Pulling the wrong way | Sepia Mutiny

(via Amit Varma / India Uncut) This just makes me want to scream. An OpEd in the Times of India discusses the trials and tribulations that met a promising higher ed venture in India. Like most stories, it starts with the best of intentions –

Two years ago, I met a distinguished friend in Delhi, who is the president of a prestigious American university that has produced several Nobel laureates. He loves India and he told me with some pride that India is increasingly perceived as a future knowledge capital of the world. He thought he would contribute to this future by setting up a branch campus here so that Indians could acquire his university’s degree at a fourth of the cost in America. I was delighted. Here’s a chance for a world-class education for our young, I thought.

And like many such endeavors, he ran smack into other (formerly) well-intentioned bureaucrats who are now glued in place by ossified political structures. The natural laws of bureaucracy and public-choice kick in –

Two years later I heard this tale of woe. His university’s application to the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) for an equivalence certificate went unanswered despite three reminders. Their meeting with the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) resulted in the demand for a huge bribe. Their efforts with the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry entangled them in miles of red tape. “[AICTE] will decide our fees, student intake, and even the size of our buildings, and prosecute us like criminals for non-compliance. Even if we get their approval, it’s only for a year, and meanwhile the courts could overturn things.”

And the university’s response? Atlas shrugged –

…India is a hopeless cause and he has decided to set up a campus in China.

Sigh. On the plus side, I suppose the Indian higher ed establishment will be safe from neo-colonial exploitation & Race To The Bottom outsourcing.

9 thoughts on “Pulling the wrong way”

Oh man!! this is truly said … if this is the true and complete story … would someone get me the address of AIU, AICTE & UGC … get me some TNT while ur at it … need to wipe these scumbags off the face of the earth!!

On a sidenote … what does our educated President have to say about this? I’m sure he would be disgusted if he knew of this matter too!

That really sucks…

The American university in question sounds like it might be Cornell. If so, they really screwed this one up, and hopefully press like this can bring about positive changes.

Those grapes were sour anyways man. Who needs those phoren universities messing up our young who already have 2 tons worth of paper memorized right? I kid I kid. Did anyone expect anything different? If the indian govt. can hit the internet (that ebay guy who got arrested over the SMS video) they can nail anybody.

There was an article in wired magazine a few months ago, about cops vs tech in India. Link to Article.India’s Odd Couple: Cops and Tech .

I think it illustrates the situation in India on many different levels.

Bombay’s new cybercrime unit –

If there is a cybercrime committed in your office, just let us know. We will find him and get the confession out of him.

Well, don’t forget that one of the reasons there are fewer regulations over things like construction in the People’s Republic is that it’s a lot better equipped to railroad projects over people without having to worry about either their votes or their protests or their complaining in the press. As Fareed Zakaria, no free market slouch, pointed out at last years SAJA conference, democracy has a price. Miles of red tape is not a very precise answer to “what went wrong.” Bribes are bribes–by definition they are against the law and are a symptom of laws not being enforced, not laws being too stringent. Government organizations can be inefficient in implementation without being unnecessary or fundamentally misconceived, just like you can have a very nice and efficient algorithim that’s badly implemented in a way that kills memory. My main point is the lesson we should not take from this is to become more like China. Also, being efficient has a lot to do with an individual culture of moral responsibility as well.

get me some TNT while ur at it … need to wipe these scumbags off the face of the earth!!

Fighting stupidty with…more stupidty..why didn’t I think of that

Fighting stupidty with…more stupidty…

Stupid Tea must be fought! Only gingko biloba tea for me.

Fighting stupidty with…more stupidty..why didn’t I think of that

American’s thought of it … they are still doing it 🙂

besides … i wasn’t serious here :D!!

Well, don’t forget that one of the reasons there are fewer regulations over things like construction in the People’s Republic is that it’s a lot better equipped to railroad projects over people without having to worry about either their votes or their protests or their complaining in the press. As Fareed Zakaria, no free market slouch, pointed out at last years SAJA conference, democracy has a price. Miles of red tape is not a very precise answer to “what went wrong.” Bribes are bribes–by definition they are against the law and are a symptom of laws not being enforced, not laws being too stringent. Government organizations can be inefficient in implementation without being unnecessary or fundamentally misconceived, just like you can have a very nice and efficient algorithim that’s badly implemented in a way that kills memory. My main point is the lesson we should not take from this is to become more like China. Also, being efficient has a lot to do with an individual culture of moral responsibility as well.

This is far too sensible for this conversation, Saheli (although I think the contrast you draw is a little stark–India and China are both overcentralized states with inflated bureaucracies that railroad projects over people to some extent). In any case, you’re making it too difficult to make ideologically based arguments for neoliberalismo 🙂

on a tangent, i think compare and contrast on india and china is already tiresome, and yet we will have to endure like 30 more years of this nonsense.

BJ on June 23, 2005 at 1:44 pm said:

Oh man!! this is truly said … if this is the true and complete story … would someone get me the address of AIU, AICTE & UGC … get me some TNT while ur at it … need to wipe these scumbags off the face of the earth!!

On a sidenote … what does our educated President have to say about this? I’m sure he would be disgusted if he knew of this matter too!
runnerwallah on June 23, 2005 at 1:52 pm said:

That really sucks…

The American university in question sounds like it might be Cornell. If so, they really screwed this one up, and hopefully press like this can bring about positive changes.
anangbhai on June 23, 2005 at 2:20 pm said:

Those grapes were sour anyways man. Who needs those phoren universities messing up our young who already have 2 tons worth of paper memorized right? I kid I kid. Did anyone expect anything different? If the indian govt. can hit the internet (that ebay guy who got arrested over the SMS video) they can nail anybody.
epoch on June 23, 2005 at 4:04 pm said:

There was an article in wired magazine a few months ago, about cops vs tech in India. Link to Article.India’s Odd Couple: Cops and Tech .

I think it illustrates the situation in India on many different levels.

Bombay’s new cybercrime unit –

If there is a cybercrime committed in your office, just let us know. We will find him and get the confession out of him.
Saheli on June 23, 2005 at 4:54 pm said:

Well, don’t forget that one of the reasons there are fewer regulations over things like construction in the People’s Republic is that it’s a lot better equipped to railroad projects over people without having to worry about either their votes or their protests or their complaining in the press. As Fareed Zakaria, no free market slouch, pointed out at last years SAJA conference, democracy has a price. Miles of red tape is not a very precise answer to “what went wrong.” Bribes are bribes–by definition they are against the law and are a symptom of laws not being enforced, not laws being too stringent. Government organizations can be inefficient in implementation without being unnecessary or fundamentally misconceived, just like you can have a very nice and efficient algorithim that’s badly implemented in a way that kills memory. My main point is the lesson we should not take from this is to become more like China. Also, being efficient has a lot to do with an individual culture of moral responsibility as well.
sluggo on June 23, 2005 at 5:39 pm said:

get me some TNT while ur at it … need to wipe these scumbags off the face of the earth!!

Fighting stupidty with…more stupidty..why didn’t I think of that
Oeth on June 23, 2005 at 6:50 pm said:

Fighting stupidty with…more stupidty…

Stupid Tea must be fought! Only gingko biloba tea for me.
BJ on June 24, 2005 at 11:36 am said:

Fighting stupidty with…more stupidty..why didn’t I think of that

American’s thought of it … they are still doing it 🙂

besides … i wasn’t serious here :D!!
Saurav on June 24, 2005 at 2:53 pm said:

Well, don’t forget that one of the reasons there are fewer regulations over things like construction in the People’s Republic is that it’s a lot better equipped to railroad projects over people without having to worry about either their votes or their protests or their complaining in the press. As Fareed Zakaria, no free market slouch, pointed out at last years SAJA conference, democracy has a price. Miles of red tape is not a very precise answer to “what went wrong.” Bribes are bribes–by definition they are against the law and are a symptom of laws not being enforced, not laws being too stringent. Government organizations can be inefficient in implementation without being unnecessary or fundamentally misconceived, just like you can have a very nice and efficient algorithim that’s badly implemented in a way that kills memory. My main point is the lesson we should not take from this is to become more like China. Also, being efficient has a lot to do with an individual culture of moral responsibility as well.

This is far too sensible for this conversation, Saheli (although I think the contrast you draw is a little stark–India and China are both overcentralized states with inflated bureaucracies that railroad projects over people to some extent). In any case, you’re making it too difficult to make ideologically based arguments for neoliberalismo 🙂

on a tangent, i think compare and contrast on india and china is already tiresome, and yet we will have to endure like 30 more years of this nonsense.