ISRO has only 2% students from IIT's & NIT's

Isro may be making great strides in space, but when it comes to attracting graduates from premier institutes like IIT, it has a long way to go. Details gathered through an RTI application shows that only 2% employees of Indian Space Research Institute (Isro) are graduates from IITs or NITs.

With satellite launches and interplanetary exploration increasingly becoming as commercial as scientific, Isro will need products of premier institutes. "But this is not a trend that affects only Isro," says V Adimurthy, senior advisor of interplanetary mission at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. Other sectors like roadways and railways too don't attract them," says the IIT-Kanpur alumnus.

Moreover, Isro's centralized recruitment system doesn't differentiate between an IIT graduate and one from another engineering college. "We look for strength in fundamentals, wherever the person is from. It is essential to have people from different institutions."

Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan sees a silver lining in Isro's Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IISST), Thiruvananthapuram. Since its inauguration in 2007, the institute has been getting toppers as applicants. "We have been getting some brilliant students who I am sure would go on to become big scientists in Isro," says Radhakrishnan.

Collaborative research with colleges other than IITs and NITs have deepened engagement with students and made students aspire for a nationalist career at ISRO," says Vaidhyasubramaniam S, dean, planning and development, SASTRA University. Pramod Prasad, a 2008 electronics and communication graduate from SASTRA was a part of Mars Orbiter Mission.