Super 30 founder Anand Kumar delivers the lecture at IIT Kanpur. Telegraph picture

Super 30 founder and mathematician Anand Kumar, who has helped several financially weaker students clear the IIT, is worried about brain drain.

Delivering a special lecture at an entrepreneur summit organised by IIT Kanpur on Sunday evening, Anand urged IITians to curb the desire to work abroad for more perks and privileges and instead contribute to the country’s progress in a more meaningful way by working in rural areas.

He said IITs are the country’s premier institutions and IITians need to be torchbearers of society. “It is high time, we look beyond individual success and contribute to societal causes. In a technology-driven society, it is important to ensure the fruits of development reach everybody. Technology is at its best when it transforms lives and increases productivity. That is what India needs,” he said.

For that to happen, he said, IITians would need to get into research and training. But in reality, many of them move abroad in search of better perks and salaries. The best way to check brain drain of students is to create an environment conducive enough for the talented youth to stay back and work here.

IITs produce around 8,500 engineers every year. According to a senior professor at IIT Patna, every year around 25 per cent of IIT graduates go abroad, mostly to US or Europe, in search of better opportunities.

“A majority of those moving out are in the IT sector,” he said. To check this slide, he suggested the government should promote IT and manufacturing sector in India.

Another concern area for Anand was teaching. “We have several new IITs and many more are in the pipeline, but faculty is in short supply as most students get into plum jobs after BTech. If IITians were to pursue higher studies beyond BTech, the country would not only get excellent researchers, but also a fine bunch of teachers,” he said.

There is, indeed, a 25 to 30 per cent faculty shortage at the IITs. The IIT professor said: “The shortage is more prevalent in newer IITs. But the faculty crunch can be checked if the government provides better pay packages and upgrades research facilities. This way, IIT graduates, after completing higher studies, can join the faculty.”

Anand had recently met Union HRD minister Smriti Irani to discuss reforms in the entrance to IITs and other national-level engineering institutions. He said the country or society’s development could be achieved only when all sections of society get equal opportunities. He pointed out how, coming from a humble background, he overcame hiccups to attain success.