With Poor Amenities At IIT Bombay, Students Ask For Better Facilities From Nilekani's Donation

In a recent buzz of top universities of the world, the India Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has made it to the top 150 list released by the QS. However, students from the premiere institute are not happy with the facilities there.

"A room meant for one student is currently being shared by two, and a room that can accommodate two students is currently being shared by three. Earlier, students had to share these rooms for two years but now we have to share them for three years and this has impacted our studies," said a B.Tech student who lives on the campus in Mumbai's Powai region.

According to the report by NDTV, students have been facing issues of basic needs. Students at IIT Bombay ask for a better infrastructure. "Rooms here look worse than Dharavi," said a student, adding that they want part of Nilekani's donation to be used for improving the infrastructure at the IIT.

Students are taking it to social media while sharing IIT-B's hostel food (that seems inedible), cramped hostel room, non-functional washing machines and so on.

About Nandan Nilekani's Massive Donation:

A few days back, Infosys co-founder Nandar Nilekani, an alumnus of the the Institute donated a massive amount to the IIT Bombay. The Rs. 315 crore donated by the philanthropist was appreciated by the students and alumni association.

Meme that went viral:

A twitter user by the name Gopal Srinivasan took to micro-blogging site to share a meme he saw on internet. While comparing Nilekani's massive donation verses the actual condition of the room the user says, his son is studying there.

Another student, who lives in hostel number 17 said, "The IIT Bombay Hostel Coordination Committee must get its priorities straight. The committee charges a lot for everything but delivers underdeveloped rooms, inedible food and cramped reading spaces, so much that our rooms look worse than Dharavi."

What Officials have to say?

The management of IIT Bombay said that they will be using the donation by its alma-mater, Nandan Nilekani to improve living facilities as well as setting up centres of excellence in strategic areas.

In line with the reports, a statement from institute reads, "IIT Bombay's strategic plan for the coming decade includes setting up world-class centres of excellence in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy, quantum computing, and others, nurturing a deep tech start-up eco-system, and providing best-in-class research, living, and academic facilities to students and faculty."

In addition, "Mr Nilekani's anchor contribution of $38.5 million will help the Institute kick-start its plans and inspire others to join this transformative initiative," the statement said.

This top engineering college also highlighted groundbreaking ceremony of 'Project Evergreen', a new 1,100-room world-class hostel complex, was held on June 24.

It said the complex will have modern rooms, spacious courtyards, ergonomically designed study rooms, dining areas and other such facilities.