IITs are slaves of their own tradition: Manish Sisodia

Sisodia cited the example of Malvika Joshi, who was rejected by IIT because she does not have a 10th or 12th completion certificate, but was accepted by MIT in the US

The IITs are "slaves" of their own tradition and "orthodox", Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday, claiming these factors are major hindrances for the premier tech institutes towards attaining world class status.

Speaking at a seminar here, Sisodia cited the example of Malvika Joshi, who was rejected by IIT because as she does not have a 10th or 12th completion certificate, but was accepted by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

"The institute which is given top status in India is orthodox. It is a slave of its own tradition, not willing to change, unwilling to become scientific. That is why it is India's top class, not the world's.

"We believe that only that person should get admission in IIT who has spent 20 years in school. This rigidity led IIT to lose one talented candidate. When I read about this girl the first thing that I thought was that is why IIT can never be the world's premier institute," Sisodia said.

Sisodia, who holds the Education portfolio as well, also pitched for a separate Education ministry in the Centre, saying a person should not be considered as a resource. Education falls under the Ministry of Human Resources currently.

"The election season is going on in the United States and debates are going as to who will be the Education minister or the Finance minister and the debate is between professors of top institutes, educationists.

"Neither are they elected people nor are they bureaucrats or politicians. And look at our country where fake people rule the roost (number 2 ka aadmi)," he said.