Why change a global name, ask IIT students, faculty
Taking a stand against the political move to alter the name of the 60-year old institution in the near future, IIT-Bombay students and alumni said that changing the name to IIT-Mumbai could dilute its brand image.
Mumbai Mirror had on Monday reported that following the proposal to rename the Bombay High Court, Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena MP from south Mumbai had said the party’s next target will be changing IIT-Bombay to IIT-Mumbai. Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said the proposal will be put to the cabinet on Wednesday and pushed in the parliamentary session.
The IIT spokesperson felt that the name change would not please students or faculty members. The official spokesperson said: “Since IIT-B is an institute of national importance and a globally recognised brand, changing the name may dilute the brand. Overseas students may also find it confusing.”
Alumni members were also strictly against the idea. Zishan Hayath, co founder of Topper.com and a former student of IIT-B, said: “The name should not be changed due to the interests of local politicians. They can build new institutes and name them the way they want instead of diluting IIT -B’s reputation.” Similarly, Bakul Desai, the director of the IIT Bombay alumni association, said that students have a psychological relation with the existing name. “IIT Bombay is the name and Mumbai appears on the address. Then why change the name for no valid reason? There is no necessity for a change,” he said.
Students felt that their opinions should also be taken into account before making such a change and said that they will be writing to the Human Resource Department if the decision is taken. Uddipta Chatterjee, a member of the student group Progressive and Democratic Students collective, said: “For decades, students have graduated from IIT-Bombay. Now suddenly, if they are told that they will be graduating from IIT-Mumbai, it will create a divide, which is not acceptable to the student community. We will keep a close watch on the developments and if the decision is taken then we will demand a debate. We should be allowed to voice our opinions and the change should be a democratic process.”
Mumbai Mirror had on Monday reported that following the proposal to rename the Bombay High Court, Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena MP from south Mumbai had said the party’s next target will be changing IIT-Bombay to IIT-Mumbai. Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said the proposal will be put to the cabinet on Wednesday and pushed in the parliamentary session.
The IIT spokesperson felt that the name change would not please students or faculty members. The official spokesperson said: “Since IIT-B is an institute of national importance and a globally recognised brand, changing the name may dilute the brand. Overseas students may also find it confusing.”
Another senior faculty member said: “A change in the name will not affect the present institution. However, it’s an irritant since it’ll be an inconvenience when the nomenclature will be changed from IIT-B to IIT-M. The brand has been established as IIT-B for almost 60 years now. The change is not required.”
Alumni members were also strictly against the idea. Zishan Hayath, co founder of Topper.com and a former student of IIT-B, said: “The name should not be changed due to the interests of local politicians. They can build new institutes and name them the way they want instead of diluting IIT -B’s reputation.” Similarly, Bakul Desai, the director of the IIT Bombay alumni association, said that students have a psychological relation with the existing name. “IIT Bombay is the name and Mumbai appears on the address. Then why change the name for no valid reason? There is no necessity for a change,” he said.
Students felt that their opinions should also be taken into account before making such a change and said that they will be writing to the Human Resource Department if the decision is taken. Uddipta Chatterjee, a member of the student group Progressive and Democratic Students collective, said: “For decades, students have graduated from IIT-Bombay. Now suddenly, if they are told that they will be graduating from IIT-Mumbai, it will create a divide, which is not acceptable to the student community. We will keep a close watch on the developments and if the decision is taken then we will demand a debate. We should be allowed to voice our opinions and the change should be a democratic process.”
