The learning atmosphere at the newer IITs is different from the
older IITs. Students have had to start from scratch to establish their college societies.
Mood Indigo, the annual cultural festival of IIT Bombay may have established
itself in the market, but IIT Patna’s annual cultural festival, Anwesha, is
still building a reputation for itself. Even while allocation of seats, newer IITs
are ranked low priority-wise by students. But, to develop a culture for your
own institute, that is a power enjoyed only by the students of the newer IITs. They
have an average intake of 150 students whereas older IITs have a capacity to
take in 800 students annually. This gives the students of the newer IITs an
opportunity to fulfil the dream of representing their institute at various
levels.

Students at the newer IITs develop their personalities by
learning a variety of skills that they gained while building their college communities.
They enjoy the freedom to mould their college clubs according to their own preferences.
They cultivate extra-curricular activities according to their inclinations. Students
at the newer IITs learn and develop from their experiences. K. Vidya Dutt, an
alumnus of IIT Patna, says, “In the older IITs a path is already set for
college festivals, seminars and events. Everything goes with the flow, but we had
to start from the scratch. It was very difficult for us to even get
sponsorships for our cultural festival. We only managed a sponsorship of
Rs2-2.5 lakhs in 2009. But in 2015 we raised over Rs15 lakhs from our sponsors.
Now when we look back, we feel we learned a lot from these activities.”

Students at the newer IITs agree to the fact that they have
less competition but they also accept the setbacks that come with it. A fourth
year student of IIT Mandi on the condition of anonymity said, “We get a chance
to develop our skills but to polish them we need good competition. At older IITs
a chance is given to everyone but only those who fight hard are selected. It is
all up to us how we grow.”

Prof. S.K. Gupta, Student Affairs Dean at IIT Delhi says, “Some
of the newer IITs don’t participate in competitions as they lack promising
candidates. For example, on an average there should be 150 students in a
contingent at the inter-IIT sports meets but many newer IITs don’t even have
that many students in their sports club.”  

An IIT Indore student said, “The newer IITs are still
developing, we face problems like lack of space, rented campuses, and
never-ending construction. But I got a chance to participate in an inter-IIT
sports meet and my friend studying at IIT Roorkee didn’t, even though he is a
better player than me. Because of a simple fact: the level of competition is
way higher at older IITs.”

Students of the newer IITs have higher probability to
represent their institutes but what about the criteria maintained by other IITs?
When PaGaLGuY asked Dr Suman Kalyan Pal, Dean of Student Affairs at IIT Mandi
about this scenario, he replied, “Internal standards are maintained which have
to be met by the students when they represent the institute. They are not sent
for competitions or seminars just for the sake of going.”

He further adds, “Qualified students make a nice environment
and that is what helps them in performing. They do well in an interactive
atmosphere, it doesn’t matter if it is an older IIT or a new one.”