STOP opening NEW IIT-IIM-AIIMS
The video criticizes the Indian government's strategy of opening new IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS for political branding rather than educational quality. It highlights the poor placement outcomes of newer IIMs like Bodh Gaya (₹11 lakh average despite ₹20 lakh fees) and argues for upgrading existing performing colleges instead of creating underfunded new ones.
Summary
The speaker opens by presenting two ironic pieces of news: IIM Guwahati has begun admissions, and IIM Bodh Gaya's average placement stands at just ₹11 lakh per annum — despite students paying ₹20 lakh in fees. This means students are spending more on education than they earn in their first year, representing a deeply poor return on investment.
The speaker then critiques the government's approach to solving this problem. Instead of addressing the quality gaps in existing institutions, the government continues to announce new IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS purely for political optics and name recognition. These newly established institutions lack key ingredients for success: no alumni networks, no established campuses, and no guaranteed placements. The only support structure provided is assigning an older, established institution as a mentor — which the speaker implies is insufficient.
The speaker proposes three alternative solutions. First, high-performing existing colleges should be rewarded with the IIT, IIM, or AIIMS tag rather than creating entirely new institutions from scratch. Second, if new colleges must be established, their fees should be kept very low initially, with fee increases only permitted once the institution demonstrates its capability and quality. Third, the government should invest significantly in already-strong private institutions like BITS Pilani and XLRI so they can grow and contribute more effectively to higher education.
The overall argument is that the current model benefits the government through branding and profit while leaving students with expensive degrees that don't deliver proportionate career outcomes.
Key Insights
- The speaker points out that IIM Bodh Gaya's average placement is ₹11 lakh despite a ₹20 lakh fee, meaning students spend more on the degree than they earn in their first year — a fundamentally broken value proposition.
- The speaker argues that new IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS are announced primarily for political branding ('naam batorana'), lacking any alumni base, established campus, or placement guarantees.
- The speaker claims the government profits from these new institutions while students gain little beyond a name tag, suggesting the system is designed to benefit the state rather than students.
- The speaker proposes that already high-performing colleges should be rewarded with the IIT, IIM, or AIIMS brand tag, rather than building new institutions from scratch with no track record.
- The speaker argues that if new institutions are created, fees must be kept very low initially and only increased once the college has proven its quality — reversing the current model of charging premium fees upfront.
Topics
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