I couldn't resist commenting on this post by Badri on the topic of adding reservations for OBCs (Other Backward Castes) at IITs, one of which is my alma mater. He thinks it is a necessary step from "a social justice/ equal access to elite education" point of view.

I disagree with him on this because doing so, I think, would destroy the fundamental philosophical principle that makes these places special. As an aside I think getting into IITs is far more democratic than getting into other elite universities here in the US, such as the Ivy Leauge ones.

I want to add one more data point to the other posters here regarding the diversity of the student body at IIT Kgp when I was there during 1995-1999 - as the professors contend in their letter, it was indeed diverse with people represented from all over India, both urban and rural. In fact I heard the names of some of the small towns such as Darbhanga because of the incoming class has students from these towns.

Also having interacted with my school mates who went to other IITs like IIT-M (my parents too would have wanted me go to IIT-M, alas my Hawaa was too screwed up! :)) or IIT-B, I can also see how these places might be dominated by kids who transition from the big city schools to IITs located in the same city. I mean even if you open an IIT, at say Vellore, which IIT do you think kids who grew up in Madras would prefer to attend? As an aside my anecdotal data from that period of time also indicates that the student body at IITM, in particular, is split almost evenly between folks from TN and AP, with a representative slice from the rest of India. If nothing else, this in particular makes me glad that I ended up at IIT-Kgp instead of IIT-M, with no offence intended to IIT-M folks. :)

As for debate itself, I second rc's arguments, because I don't trust the exsisting political system not to fk up whatever distribution scheme they might come up with (not that it won't end up being hazaar fked eventually) by implementing it without doing any rational study.

On a more anecdotal level, I had an classmate from Sikkim at IIT Kgp, who could have gotten into the Computer Science program if he chose to use the SC/ST reservation quota. But since he did not care to be slotted into want he percieved (rightly I think) a less desirable category, he chose Civil Engineering corresponding to his AIR. One can't deny that SC/ST students, fairly or unfairly, weren't (aren't currently?) slotted by the rest of the students into a seperate category; at Kgp the terminology used to classify these students was 'sheddus'.

Clearly as the rationale behind IITs being percieved as the best, as well the self perception of the students at IITs of themselves as being the best, hinges on JEE, replacing it with any other less background 'blind' scheme would lead to fracturing, at a pyschological level, of what I would call the intellect rationale on display at any IIT.

That said, it is still necessary to ask questions regarding the function and place of such 'elite' (and 'elite' making) institutions in any society.