Economic divide widens in IITs, two distinct groups emerge
Students making it to India's best public engineering colleges this session might have more to tackle than study pressure. Making for a sharp economic divide on campus, two large cohorts of students in the class of 2017 in the IITs are from the upper middle classes and from the lower income groups.
This year, one out of every five students (over 20%) who qualified disclosed that the annual family income is over Rs 8 lakh. Two years ago, data released by the colleges revealed that about 9.3% of the qualified candidates had an annual family income of over Rs 10 lakh.
Equally stunning is the jump of students with family income of less than Rs 1 lakh: from just 1.5% two years ago to 11.6%. Another 12.7% IITians this year is from the Rs 1-2 lakh per year family income bracket.
"This is not verifiable data. But there is a section of students that is very well off and another slice of really poor students who are getting into the IITs. There is a big economic divide on campus that you can see as an insider," said Gautam Barua, former IIT-Guwahati director.
A key factor in the steep rise of students from economically weaker sections is the bigger and better coaching support that they are getting. The first that comes to mind is Patna's Super-30 that for some years now has been picking poor meritorious students and successfully coaching them for the IIT entrance exam.
Now, several coaching centres in other cities are offering free seats to bright students who can bag a rank, like P Sai Sandeep Reddy (JEE-2013 topper) who did not have the funds to translate his dream to reality.
Hostels rooms at IITs are often a picture a contradiction. Small rooms with basic furniture — a cot, cupboard and a desk — soon get packed with gadgets, often as expensive as the entire semester tuition. Besides, there are monthly food bills that can run into thousands and laundering every weekend of fancy clothes. Students who come from families with an annual income of less than Rs 4 lakh can avail of the government's merit-cum-means scholarships.
But IITs are a melting pot where differences vanish in class, said another IIT director. "What has also happened is that the Sixth Pay Commission has had a bearing on many government employees' salaries and, hence, we have many more students in the higher pay bracket," said an IIT-Madras dean.
Like last year, most (29.8%) students who cracked the JEE (advanced) 2013 came from a home where the father is in government service, followed by 17.3% from business families.
Data further shows that most successful students' dads (42.7%) are graduates, while one out of every three candidates' father has pursued a post graduation. Just about 3% students' fathers are illiterate.
This year, one out of every five students (over 20%) who qualified disclosed that the annual family income is over Rs 8 lakh. Two years ago, data released by the colleges revealed that about 9.3% of the qualified candidates had an annual family income of over Rs 10 lakh.
Equally stunning is the jump of students with family income of less than Rs 1 lakh: from just 1.5% two years ago to 11.6%. Another 12.7% IITians this year is from the Rs 1-2 lakh per year family income bracket.
"This is not verifiable data. But there is a section of students that is very well off and another slice of really poor students who are getting into the IITs. There is a big economic divide on campus that you can see as an insider," said Gautam Barua, former IIT-Guwahati director.
A key factor in the steep rise of students from economically weaker sections is the bigger and better coaching support that they are getting. The first that comes to mind is Patna's Super-30 that for some years now has been picking poor meritorious students and successfully coaching them for the IIT entrance exam.
Now, several coaching centres in other cities are offering free seats to bright students who can bag a rank, like P Sai Sandeep Reddy (JEE-2013 topper) who did not have the funds to translate his dream to reality.
Hostels rooms at IITs are often a picture a contradiction. Small rooms with basic furniture — a cot, cupboard and a desk — soon get packed with gadgets, often as expensive as the entire semester tuition. Besides, there are monthly food bills that can run into thousands and laundering every weekend of fancy clothes. Students who come from families with an annual income of less than Rs 4 lakh can avail of the government's merit-cum-means scholarships.
But IITs are a melting pot where differences vanish in class, said another IIT director. "What has also happened is that the Sixth Pay Commission has had a bearing on many government employees' salaries and, hence, we have many more students in the higher pay bracket," said an IIT-Madras dean.
Like last year, most (29.8%) students who cracked the JEE (advanced) 2013 came from a home where the father is in government service, followed by 17.3% from business families.
Data further shows that most successful students' dads (42.7%) are graduates, while one out of every three candidates' father has pursued a post graduation. Just about 3% students' fathers are illiterate.
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