Recently, IIT Madras lost out on a $10 million donation, and IIT Powai’s Rs 36-crore kitty — proudly built by alumni and well-wishers — which had received Rs 6 crore last year, got no new offerings this year. All thanks to the Bharat Shiksha Kosh (BSK), Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi’s concept of gurudakshina.The BSK, launched a year ago with a one-time Central Government grant of Rs 1 crore and formally registered in January this year, has put the stops on sending funds directly to one’s alma mater. Instead, all such ‘‘tax-free donations’’ have to be sent to the BSK, Joshi’s extra-budgetary kitty, in an apparent effort to ward off propositions of privatisation.The story doesn’t end there. As if that were not enough to put off generous alumni donors, the BSK is spurning even the few offerings that are being made. Take the case of tech billionaire Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, co-founder of the high-end optical technology company Sycamore Networks INC, whose offer of $10 million for an optical research project to be undertaken by IIT, Madras, his alma mater, was rejected. The result: IIT’s loss was MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) gain. Deshpande gave a $20 million grant to MIT to set up the ‘‘Deshpande Centre of Technological Innovation’’ instead.‘‘We had forwarded the proposal to the concerned IIT. But the IIT management had a problem. Deshpande was not just donating to his alma mater but trying to dictate what research should be undertaken. We found that unacceptable,’’ claimed a senior HRD official. IIT Madras director M.S. Ananth was not available for comment.But at Mumbai, IIT’s donors have always specified projects, like a school of management and a school of IT. The latest — an ‘‘environment-friendly and disabled friendly’’ hostel supported by Nandan Nilekani — was inaugurated in April. Moreover, a ‘‘key feature’’ of the Kosh is to admittedly ‘‘fulfill the desires of the donors in utilising their contribution with accountability and as per their wishes.’’No surprise then that the funds aren’t exactly pouring in. ‘‘We are yet to receive any substantial donations for the BSK. Some proposals are coming in and inquiries have been made by individuals. But there has been no money yet. We have even circulated our brochures in the Indian missions abroad,’’ admitted Balakrishnan, Joint Secretary, HRD Ministry.According to Balakrishnan, the Ministry has also sent a circular to all secondary and higher secondary institutes funded by the Central Government not to accept any funding proposals directly, but to send it to the Kosh for consideration.But what was wrong with the earlier system of direct funding? ‘‘It is not easy to make a direct donation. Before BSK, there was no official framework to receive such donations or to ensure accountability. We have a centralised funding body in the form of the BSK which is fully accountable to the donor,’’ said V.S. Pandey, a senior Ministry official.His explanation doesn’t have many takers. IIT officials claim that faithful execution of ‘‘specific projects’’ suggested by alumni donors has always been an IIT tradition. IIT Kanpur even sends official reports to contributors.‘‘There is still a lot of discussion among the IITs and the HRD Ministry over procedures. Initially, we thought that the Kosh would be a parallel channel. Now the HRD circular suggests it will be the only channel for donor funds,’’ said D Ghosh, dean (resource mobilisation) at IIT Powai. Pointing out that ‘‘there was never a third party in deciding what to do with the contributions’’, he says donors now have reason to worry.And IIT Powai, Mumbai, has reason to be upset. ‘‘No contributions have landed since the BSK was started. There are likely to be delays. Future funding now depends on the attitude of donors and how they take to this. All our donations come for specific projects. Nobody donates just like that,’’ pointed out Deputy Director S.C. Lakkad.Revealing plans to contact their alumni foundation in the US, Prem Kalra, dean (resource planning) at IIT Kanpur, which sits tight on one of the country’s richest endowment funds raised by an IIT — Rs 106 crore, said: ‘‘We will debate the issue, get feedback from our alumni in India and the US and discuss it at the next board meeting.’’IIT Kanpur, where N.R. Narayanamurthy chairs a fund-raising committee, has reason to question the HRD Ministry’s final authority. After all, it has big money staked on ‘‘well-wishers and donors’’. The target is no less than Rs 250 crore: Rs 50 crore for infrastructure, Rs 120 crore for academic environment, Rs 20 crore for new academic programmes, Rs 60 crore for investment in emerging areas and Rs 2 crore for an Alumni Association corpus.
