Anyone familiar with the IITs would agree that a purely engineering education — preceded by years of social isolation in a high-pressure coaching environment — is not conducive to making intelligent, compassionate and politically-aware citizens.

In the future, we could choose to move towards a better integration with global science, infused with an Indian flavour.

It may not make sense to expect that a Western solution can address a problem with uniquely Indian pathologies.

The Central University of Kerala's intention to curtail research in areas not of "national priority" penalises the discovery of new solutions to old problems, and is itself not in the national interest.

Education should serve society and all those who belong to it. The question is only about whether this is best done through explicit instructions regarding “questions of policy relating to national purposes” or by other means.