- Those who refused to be lured by the west and contributed significantly to India’s growth
Chennai, India. 26 April, 2024. The general impression about IITians in the minds of common people is that after passing out they go abroad and settle there. Commander VK Jaitly, who himself is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, wanted to break this perception. He researched and toiled for more than four years and compiled the stories of 100 great IITians who dedicated their lives for the nation. These IITians either didn’t go abroad or even if they went, they came back to their motherland after higher studies or some job experience. The IITians featured in this book are from diverse fields like academics, industry, R&D, DRDO, ISRO, Defence, Adventure and even spiritual and social sector. The Excel Publishers of the book have produced a beautiful 429 pages multi colour hard bound book that is something in between a coffee table book and a normal soft cover book.
Six great IITians who stay at Chennai and are featured in the book were honoured on the stage by the chief guest, Professor Ravi Bhaskaran, a renowned academician. The six Great IITians include Padmashri CN Raghvendran, a renowned architect of Chennai who has contributed globally, Srinivasan Vishwanathan, a versatile CXO, Padma Shri Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala who has empowered India through technology. The other Chennai based IITians who figure in the book are B Santhanam, the CEO of Saint Gobain and a renowned name in the industry with his contributions through CII, Prof Sujatha Srinivasan whose work in the field of developing support equipment for the disabled has been acknowledged far and wide and Balaji Sampath who is working with the economically weaker sections of the society in a big way
Commander VK Jaitly explained that 100% profit from the sale of this book will be used for the upliftment of the society: 40% will go as scholarship to economically weaker students getting admission in 23 IITs, 40% will go for the transformation of Tribal Villages in the vicinity of IIT Kharagpur, 10% for PM Cares Fund and 10% to other miscellaneous social organisations like Youth4Nation etc. Commander Jaitly himself is one of the National Coordinator of Youth4Nation.
The event was organised in the Hall no 3 of ICSR with the full support from Director of IIT Madras, Prof V Kamakoti. Prof Devendra Jalihal, Director Designate of IIT Guwahati steered the function in an excellent way and with total punctuality. The President of IIT Kharagpur Alumni Foundation India, Rajah Venkat graced the occasion along with many other IITians, students and veterans from defence services. The book has been described as a Must Read for the engineering students and of course for all those whose hearts beat for the society and for the nation.
