Giving, the IIT way

Outgoing IIT-Bombay batch pledges 1% of salary for alma mater-Education-Services-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times: "MUMBAI: Charity begins on campus. The seed of the idea, that has now got 735 students of the current outgoing batch of IIT Bombay (IIT-B) to pledge 1% of their salaries to their alma mater, came from former student Bakul Desai, an Hyderabad-based entrepreneur.

Desai, a graduate of the 1982 batch, came up with the idea of a programme that is now being called ‘Give One for IIT-B’. At rough count — taking the starting salary of a fresh graduate to be Rs 7 lakh per annum — it is likely to add a robust Rs 50 lakh to IIT-B’s coffers in the first year alone. “In the second year, we hope to bring in Rs 1 crore; in the third, Rs 1.5 crore and so on,” says Desai. No pressure of course, but it appears that most of the 735 students — or approximately 70% of the graduating batch — is more than willing to pledge a fraction of their salaries."