IITs distance itself from IIT Alumni Council

Twenty-three Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on Monday distanced themselves from IIT Alumni Council – which recently announced a three-billion-dollar social initiative fund and unveiled plans to upgrade infrastructure for testing for Covid-19.

The premier tech institutes also banned the Council from using their logos without written permission of the IITs system or individual IITs.

“The recently formed IIT Alumni Council is one such example of an independent group of alumni of the IITs and possibly others as well, which is engaged in various activities of their interest. Unless expressly indicated for specific projects, the IITs have no role to play in their efforts or in their organization,” the directors of 23 IITs said in a joint statement.

“IIT Alumni Council is also not at liberty to associate any IIT or its logo with any of the activities undertaken by it, unless they have the express written concurrence of the concerned IIT,” it said.

The Council displayed the logos of all IITs on its website, and claimed itself to be the “nodal alumni body for alumni of all the Indian Institutes of Technology”.

The joint statement noted that in recent years various groups of alumni have found a common cause and worked together towards achieving their objectives or making a lasting contribution.

“The IITs however wish to emphasize that these are efforts of alumni in their private and individual capacity, except in cases where one or more IITs have expressly partnered with alumni in a specific endeavor or project,” the 23 IIT directors said.