Location Is Not a Constraint for Universities, Says B S Satyanarayana

Professor B S Satyanarayana is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of BML Munjal University (BMU), Gurgaon. A PhD holder in Electrical Engineering from Cambridge University, UK, Satyanarayana has worked for over 30 years in the industry, academia and with various government agencies in India and abroad. He has won many awards, including Wipro Earthian Award for Sustainability, SkillTree Education Evangelist of India, Cognizant –RVCE Best Researcher Award and Karamveer Chakra Medal from International Confederation of NGOs in Collaboration with UN.  In an interview with Shanu Athiparambath, Satyanarayana shares his views on education and cities. Edited excerpts:

Athiparambath: BML Munjal University is in Gurgaon. Do you find it difficult to attract good teachers because your college is far from the city?

Satyanarayana: Not yet. We are very selective about who we hire and our goal is not to simply get more people. We have defined a vision. For that to happen, those who come should have the right vision. In India, most people think of education as a meal ticket or a badge. That is not true of our university.

Athiparambath: But, when almost everyone has access to the Internet, formal education becomes a badge. Will universities and buildings become irrelevant?

Satyanarayana: I can learn a hundred things about swimming from books or from the Internet. But, unless I get into the water, I will not learn how to swim. We are defining a pedagogy. Teaching, learning and research are linked to hands-on experience, industrial absorption and international programmes. We may not have fully translated learning into action. But, even in the best of institutions, there is great room for improvement. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and similar processes will help only if you are already in a domain. Peer groups also matters a lot. We are a residential university that has all the infrastructure that students need. Students can have discussions on subjects they are interested in, regardless of whether it is day or night. Isolation from the city also reduces distraction.

Athiparambath: But, being in the heart of a city will give them more access to amenities. It is easier to attract better faculty, too.

Satyanarayana: I don't think it is a problem. If a university wants students to join purely because it is in the heart of a city, it is a different ball game altogether. Manipal, for example, is an isolated place, but every year, 10,000 to 15,000 people students go there. If you create a good institution, the location is not a problem.

Athiparambath: Do universities need large tracts of land? If you look at Indian universities and colleges, there are institutions that have large tracts of land and provide good placements. But, there are institutions with limited land with a comparable or even better placement record.

Satyanarayana: I think in India and abroad, there are counterexamples for everything. The University of Cambridge, for instance, is almost like a town. But, there are universities that have a few acres of land and are still comparable. If I have more land, I can build a residential campus and great labs. But, even if I don't have such land, I will be able to deliver within my limited purpose. This is not a black-and-white issue. Eventually, it depends on the kind of leadership. If a better vice-chancellor joins, he needs a very short time to make an impact, and make things happen. But this does not mean that real estate does not matter.

Athiparambath: But, universities should look at cost and benefit, right? If I am buying books for my son, and if he has not yet read any, it does not make much sense to buy more.

Satyanarayana: If I want to make a large investment with a good return of investment in five years, I will have to think of a different model. That will define how I buy land and how I buy books for the college library. Even when I am walking on the footpath and see a wonderful book, I buy it for the university in the library. The whole world is becoming more comfortable with the idea of accessing e-libraries. But, even if one student reads a great book in the library and finds it inspiring, that would be wonderful.

Athiparambath: What were the constraints you faced while acquiring land for the university?

Satyanarayana: The Haryana government tried to acquire land here to build a university for the past 15-20 years and this did not happen. When we applied to the government with reasonable clarity, we were able to build the university. We have about 55 acres of land and this is reasonably large for 4,000-5,000 students. The university is over a year old and now we have only 1,000 students. Maybe, as we grow, we will have to take a call on how fast we should grow. But, we want to be among the top 100 universities in Asia in the next one decade, and the single-biggest constraint is that no one is giving autonomy to educational institutions. We have to comply with many regulations and agencies. Also, when the government sanctions Rs 1,000 crore to build 10 IITs, that is not even enough to construct the buildings. The research equipment, books, etc, are expensive, too.

Athiparambath: In the US, schools in suburbs are better. Is that true in India?

Satyanarayana: In the US, schools in suburbs are better because the upper middle class and rich live in the suburbs because they can afford to commute. A typical house is built on a one-acre plot. In India, it is very different. Universities have much larger grants in the United States. The annual expense on education in India is lower than the annual budget of most of the universities that are in the top 100 in the world. In India, many National Institute of Technology (NIT) in small cities are in a bad condition. NIT Trichy or Calicut or Surathkal or Warangal may have received some government aid in the recent past which allowed them to perform better.

Athiparambath: NITs are in a dilapidated state. When I was a teen, no one wanted to go to NIT Surathkal. I did not choose computer science at NIT Silchar because no one wanted to go to Silchar.

Satyanarayana: But IITs have the hardest working students in India, and they will perform regardless of the infrastructure. But, with better infrastructure, they will learn more. When we created this campus, we wanted to make it an oasis that people want to come. Students do not have to worry about what happens outside.

Athiparambath: How did the area develop after the university was built?

Satyanarayana: This is one of the fastest growing areas in Gurgaon. Sohna Road and some of the expensive parts of Gurgaon are nearby. Much of India's two-wheeler and four-wheeler industry is here. Many multistory apartments have come up here. But residential prices have not gone up much because many houses are not yet occupied.

Athiparambath: They are probably waiting for the infrastructure.

Satyanarayana: The industries have to expand. Universities cannot do much. This is an industrial belt.