We can`t stop anyone from calling Dow: IIT-B

The organisers of the meet, the IIT-Bombay Heritage Fund, said accepting financial assistance did not amount to promoting the controversial company.

About 500 alumni and 43 faculty members of IIT-Bombay had yesterday appealed to the alumni and the NGO which were organising the festivities in New York, to reject sponsorship of Dow Chemicals , which has refused to accept liability for the toxic waste dumped by its subsidiary, Union Carbide, in Bhopal.

"By accepting sponsorship, the organisers are not promoting, sponsoring or advocating any product and it is a purely a financial arrangement," a spokesman of the Fund said.

IIT-Bombay, in a statement, said it had been invited to be a panelist and speaker at the celebrations and it was thankful to the alumni for keeping up their interactions and constant support.

However, it added, "IIT-Bombay, like other IITs, is largely funded by the central government and comes under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Students, alumni and faculty members at the Institute can choose to interact with any particular legally recognised organisation at their own free will under existing rules of engagement."