THE PROMISCUOUS GRADUATES OF IITs/IIMs/AIIMS

IITs, IIMs and AIIMS- the most elite institutions of India that produce world-class engineers, managers and doctors. The mere mention of the institution brings them a 6-7 figured salaried job. An IIM graduate grabbing a Rs. 1-crore job makes so much of news in this country. Why? Was this the purpose for which these institutions were set up?
We are actually deceived by these unfaithful elite graduates. We must remember that if the government does not subsidise their education in IITs/IIMs/AIIMS, the students would end up paying fees running in 7-digit or even 8-digit numbers. But the government subsidises their education. And where does that subsidy come from? Our taxes!! And instead of returning it back to the nation, they fly overseas lured by lucrative jobs. After all who would like to work in countryside India in lack of resources, or even who would like to work in India at all? They forget that the benefit they get from government subsidies is ‘not’ a prize for their hard work but a training process for obligatory service.
And how easily these graduates forget the huge sums of resources flowing uninterrupted for them, come what may. There may be floods in Bihar, no hospital till 60 km radius in several villages, single-room schools in many villages, but they will always get a subsidised education. And what else, even in the economic slowdown! At such a huge cost we subsidise their education which coupled with inadequate returns culminates into exorbitant losses to the nation. When the government and the people of the country fulfil their ‘commitment’ with so much dedication, these elite graduates turn promiscuous!
And let’s have a look at what they have to say about the Indian issues. Recently a reputed newspaper published Chetan Bhagat’s (an IIM-A graduate) article on agriculture and it’s state in India. So what do you have to say about it Mr. Chetan?
He claims that subsidies, loan waivers and cheap rice do not create real progress or change the real face of agriculture in India. Such a great patriot you are Mr. Chetan sitting there in Singapore and worried about the progress of India. How about coming back to India and working for it? Then “Over two- thirds of our agricultural land is dependent on rains. Developed countries depend very little on rain. Apart from that we are not efficient either. China can produce twice the amount of rice for every acre of land as us. Australia can produce five times the rice per acre than India”. Wow, wonderful knowledge! Did you get to know all this in your IIM? In fact Mr. Chetan, you said nothing new. You just reiterated what has already been in the discussion. Sad that your IIM did not teach you how to pay back your nation which has subsidised your education.
Again, “The Indian farmer is on drip-feed in a hospital being kept alive for votes”. Drip-feed? Ludicrous! For a farmer in India, it is hard even to access a hospital and even if he does, affording a drip-feed is out of question. Then he claims “There are negatives created by such subsidies for which the government has to borrow”. This time you got it right Mr. Chetan. Which subsidy do you think is wrong? That given to a farmer or that given to you?
And then comes his out of the box idea. “In Hong Kong and Singapore, milk and butter come all the way from Australia. If an Indian software company can provide service abroad, there is no reason why an Indian farmer should be denied such a lucrative market”. Because software companies do not feed a country Mr. Chetan. You say that “if” a farmer makes money, he will invest in more cattle or efficiency improvements and production levels will meet demand in India and abroad. But how are our naive farmers going to make money and set their foot in a market, where Australians already have a good hold, without being properly equipped or having the expertise? And how will they compete with international quality standards of nations that have already been pursuing mechanised agriculture for long? Producing international quality standard products will further increase the input costs in the already loss making farming profession. Even if we are able to invest so much our margins will be narrow. Because other developed countries like the USA produces 20 times as much as we on an acre. And just because of this, our farmers will not be able to stand the fierce competition of offering ground-level prices from their competitors. Because beneath a certain level and because of low yield per hectare farmers will be further pushed into losses. And will not the capitalist countries demand opening up our markets with lesser duties so that we be able to sell in their markets? In such a case, our farmers will even loose the domestic market facing the same problems as in the international market. In all cases the poor are going to bear the brunt leaving the rich unaffected.
The point is we cannot just randomly step into the international market at any point of time. We did not move from “ship-to-mouth” situation this way either. We first need to target higher yield per hectare levels, higher quality levels through mechanisation. Only then we can move to the next level. But only if you knew the “real” state of the country, Mr. Chetan!