Sibal asks IIT professors to rethink on hunger strike

NEW DELHI: Maintaining that government would have to regulate the pay structure of IITs, HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said it was not proper for professors of the elite institutions to resort to hunger strike and asked them to "rethink" on their planned agitation on Thursday.

"We always dream that the IITs should produce Nobel Laureates. We do not expect our prospective Nobel Laureates to go on hunger strike. They should be hungry for knowledge," he told reporters in the capital.

The minister said he did not think that it was right for the IIT professors to take such a step. "They should rethink," he said expressing hope that they would not resort to such an action.

Sibal said the government has "never interfered" with the autonomy of IITs "but the pay system has to be regulated because we are answerable to Parliament. So we have to have some eligibility condition for entry and promotion in faculty. They are opposed to eligibility. This is unfair."

Around 1,500 professors and other faculty members at 13 IITs will go on a hunger strike on Thursday. They have given an ultimatum to the government to resolve by October 1 the "anomalies" in the pay structure.

The IIT Faculty Federation said there will be no disruption in 13 IITs across the country on that day. The structure puts restrictions on promotions and lacked performance-based incentives, it said.