Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday sought to question the contribution of IIT graduates in addressing the problems faced by the common people of the country and said the premier schools were doing well in the “race of unequals”.

At the release of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, the minister quoted data on IITs to say that an estimated 30 per cent of graduates from the older IITs are working abroad, while many of those who stayed back in India are serving foreign companies.

“We saw a presentation at the IIT Council meeting recently. After analysing the data of several years, we found some trends,” he said.

“Among the 60-70 per cent (IIT graduates) who are in India, many of them contribute to the foreign economy. They work for GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and other big multinational companies. They have a role in India’s economy. But I feel it is worth finding out their role in helping the common people meet their necessities,” Pradhan said.

The minister’s question has raised a fundamental question on whether the premier tech schools are serving the purpose of nation-building for which they were started in the 1950s.

Pradhan said the IITs had got top ranks in many NIRF categories, but these institutions were found to be lacking in extending their services to national projects, such as those of the PWD or the railways.

“How much consultancy (work) are they (IITs) getting from that state (where it is located)? Students passing out from these institutions work in the Big Four and get this consultancy work. Why can’t the IITs do the same?” Pradhan asked.

The IITs have started incubation parks where new companies are incubated. Pradhan asked if the chief executives at these parks are selected from the market and whether they get salaries on a par with the IIT directors. “Directors need to think about this. Now you are coming first in the race among unequals,” Pradhan said.

Rajan Welukar, former vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai, told The Telegraph that foreign companies provide a professional environment because of which IIT graduates are attracted to work there.