The reduction in funding from the central government coupled with rising costs coupled and its commitment to maintain its standard of education has prompted IIT Powai in Mumbai to reactivate its Old Boy's network to raise about Rs 16.5 crore over the last five years. Of this, Rs 15.4 crore came from two former students, whose consciences wouldn't allow them to do otherwise. Now, the institute hopes the feeling is contagious among its 20,000 alumni, who have passed through its portals since its was set up in 1962.

``Though the brain drain continues, former students are now making their absence felt in a positive way by donating for various causes in the institute,'' Prof S L Narayana Murthy, dean of resource and development at IIT, Mumbai, told IndianExpress

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The central government, which governs the six IITs in the country, suddenly slashed funding to all six institutes in 1994. Instead, it introduced the Block Grant Scheme, whereby each of the IITs would receive a fixed amount annually: IIT Powai was allocated Rs 28.4 crore. The government also encouraged the institutes to raise their own resources, saying it would contribute an amount equal to that deposited in the institutes' Corpus Fund, Murthy explains.

California based ex-IITian, Kanwal Rekhi (Class of '67) was the first big individual donor, returning Rs 8.5 crore to his alma mater in the fall of 1998. Another ex-student, the Bangalore-based managing director of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani (Class of '78), has donated Rs 6.9 crore by way of shares from his personal investment portfolio.

Besides these gilt-edged donations, combined contributions amounting to Rs 82 lakh were made between 1995 and 1999 from alumni graduating between 1970 and 1987. Romesh Wadhwani, from the Class of '69, alsooffered Rs 40 lakh from his personal account.

At the 37th convocation of the IIT, Powai, last week, director, Professor Suhas Sukhatme, named both Rekhi and Nilekani with pride, saying: ``A major donation of 1.9 million US dollars by Rekhi has provided a considerable impetus to the School of Information Technology at IIT Powai, while Nilekani's contribution of Rs 6.9 crore is also equally valuable for the progress of specialised education here. IIT Mumbai is now taking several initiatives to channelise the warm feelings and the desire which the alumni have for contributing to various activities.''

This `desire', of course, is being actively stoked via e-mail, telephone calls and letters to alumni worldwide. Former students who return to their institute for a visit are also apprised of the `situation'.

Nilekani, who spoke to The Indian Express from his Bangalore office, was reluctant to talk about his donation. ``I feel it is the responsiblity of alumni to support their institute in some way sinceyour most formative years are spent there,'' said the modest Nilekani, who heads India's largest software firm.

His Rs 6.9 crore contribution was made by selling 14,000 of his personal holding of Infosys shares -- a scrip which has caught the fancy of foreign investors and has touched Rs 5,241 riding on the software boom.

Nilekani's contribution will go towards construction of the School for Information Technology, endowments for chair professorships, faculty development, student fellowships and the upgradation of hostel number eight.

Says Prof Murthy: ``We have collected nearly Rs 82 lakh from combined batch donations, and we now have around Rs 32 crore in our Corpus Fund. This trend is now gradually starting in the other five IITs too.'' He adds that he expects an additional Rs 30 crore to pour into IIT, Powai, in the next two years.

On the brain drain issue, Prof Murthy remarks: ``The country is now getting a global outlook, and if our boys can do well in other countries after graduating from here,it only means that we can compete with anyone in the world. It is only because our boys are doing so well outside that we have such a big Corpus Fund here now.''

Costs of an IIT education

Around 1,000 students graduate and 1,900 do their post-graduation from IIT, Powai, in various faculties every year. The total number of graduates and post-graduates in all the six IITs in India is roughly 4,000.

IIT, Powai, spends around Rs 1.25 lakh per annum per undergraduate student, which amounts to Rs 5 lakh for the four-year course in any stream. However, the annual fee per student is Rs 38,500 only.

For a post-graduate student, the institute spends Rs 1.5 lakh per annum; while for a four-year PhD course, is costs Rs 2 lakh per year.