I was angry and sad at the same time when I read that there was a proposal for setting up an IIT exclusively for women at Amaravati. I don’t see any purpose in setting up such an institution except for a desire to pamper the minorities.

Has anyone given a thought to what happens when women get a degree from this IIT? Are we going to set up all-women companies for them? Even if these women turn entrepreneurs they can’t say that they will deal with only women. If these women will have to deal with men when they ultimately step out to make use of their education then why not equip them with the necessary skills by setting up more co-ed institutions?

If on the other hand, these women will sit at home with their degrees, what’s the point of setting up an IIT for educating them?

And it’s ironical that this proposal had blessings from India’s first woman president Pratibha Patil. I was glad to read that for whatever reasons the Planning Commission nipped it in the bud.

Women maybe from Venus and men from Mars but they have to co-exist on this “3rd rock from the Sun”. The sooner we realize this, the better!