IIT alumni drawn from different centres has come together to launch a think-tank — IIT Directors’ Forum — consisting of directors of all the 23 institutes.

Rajesh Rathi, one of the prime movers behind the initiative, told BusinessLine that the forum will be part of all the PanIIT conclaves and summits. PanIIT represents over 2 lakh alumni from all the IITs. It has active chapters in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Singapore.

“The Directors’ Forum will continue to select and propose topics that can be supported by PanIIT and guided for the policy inputs to the government,” Rathi said. He said during the two-day PanIIT Tech4Bharat 2020 starting from February 28, the Directors’ Forum will kick-start with a workshop for launching IIT 4.0 and will be conducted in three breakout groups to discuss topics such as sustaining the momentum; the need for speed and achieving global excellence.

Rathi said the areas of concern regarding IITs is that the third-generation IITs have not received a national institutional ranking framework (NIRF) rank; while a number of IITs have been set up, there was a need for depth. “Our institutes have not made it to the top educational institutions globally,” he pointed out. Hence, such think-tanks can suggest to the government steps to be taken to elevate IITs becoming world-class institutions, he said.

comment COMMENT NOW