IIT Kharagpur's foundation day

The 60th foundation day of IIT Kharagpur held in Delhi saw IITians reminiscing about the good old days even as issues like health, education, environment and of course corporate social responsibility (CSR), were raised.
Ashok Madhukar, chairman, Technology Alumni Association (TAA), North (IIT, Kharagpur) said, “the work of the alumni association started with technology, and as we grew our work expanded to financial management to human resources to education, health, encouraging entrepreneurship, besides working towards transformation and moving beyond just giving back.”
MN Farouqi, who was the distinguished teacher honoured at the celebrations this year, said, being remembered by students is something that is cherished the most by any teacher.Looking back, he said that he believed in giving to the students what they wanted, like if they said food was not good, then that was a valid point that merited being rectified. BK Syngal (1960 batch), founder chairman, IIT Alumni Foundation, Kharagpur was the distinguished alumnus who was honoured this year. Alumni from batches starting right from 1960 to those who passed out from IIT Kharagpur in 2010 participated in the celebrations and the latter introduced themselves, while mentioning their hostels like Azad Hall and Patel Hall, amidst cheering from their seniors.
Said Ritej Bachchawat, who passed out from IIT Kharagpur this year, “It is a rare opportunity to meet our seniors and share their experiences.” Sagi Raju, another student from the same batch, who has worked for women’s empowerment and children’s education with an NGO said that more needs to be done as far as far as CSR is concerned, even though it is encouraging to see the kind of work that is being done. Anupam Gupta, from the 1972 batch, who is executive vice-president of a consortium informed that their organisation runs a CSR programme with clear-cut objectives. He said, “We have 38 plants in India and every single drop of water that falls on the plants goes into rain water harvesting.” Prakash Amte and his wife Mandakini, who have been awarded the Magsaysay Award for their work in Community Leadership, and have been working in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, mostly for the welfare of Madia tribals also spoke on the occasion. Amte told DT that their experience as far as CSR was concerned had been poor. As for tribals he said, though they should be allowed to live in their natural environs, they should also get education and medical facilities.
Amit Patra, dean, Alumni Affairs, informed that IIT Kharagpur was planning to open a medical school and a hospital, subject to the government’s approval. He added as it may be done in public-private partnership, it is here that the alumni association can step in to help. IIT, Kharagpur can look at providing solutions for problems of national importance, he said.
Around 14 alumni from the 1960 batch were honoured on the occasion, where Anand Kumar of “Super 30” fame talked about his experience in preparing students for IIT and the difficulties he had faced. Others present on the occasion included YPS Suri, founder member and secretary, IIT Alumni Foundation, Kharagpur and Chandresh Jain, vice-president of TAA, Kharagpur, Delhi chapter.