For better and efficient functioning, Student Gymkhana bodies of all the IITs meet together once a year to discuss various issues and reforms which are to be implemented. This so called meeting is termed as Inter IIT Student Council Summit.
This year the Inter IIT Student Council Summit was held here at IITHyderabad on 5th and 6th October, 2013. It was conducted in four sessions and the first session started off with an introduction to the gymkhana structures of respective IITs, and their functioning. This session centered on the lack of unanimous decisions on a wider perspective. They also discussed the onus laid on old IITs in mentoring the newerones. The members decided to create a common Student Council which would be the final decision-maker in issues concerning all the IITs. It was also decided that the Council will consist of a Director, a General Secretary and elected representatives from each gymkhana, elected every two years.
The session was followed by an exchange of ideas regarding the respective hostel and mess affairs. Various other topics such as lack of awareness about the gymkhana activities,poor percentage of female representatives in student gymkhana,unsatisfactory voting rate in gymkhana elections and disconcerting online presence of gymkhana were discussed. The council came up with the quick fixof developing an online portal for various registrations and encouraging online voting for gymkhana elections.
In the later sessions, there were extensive discussions on academic affairs. They discussed solutions to the false notion of gymkhana activities beingresponsible for poor classroom attendance. The members also emphasized on the need for Centers of Innovation and their subsequent inter-IIT collaborations. The need for an Inter-IIT Cultural Fest was discussed, and they decided that it would be held as part of an existing fest. The session concluded with a brief discussion regarding career development programme, improved transparency in placement proceduresand the restriction offranchising of NGOs in various IITs. The next summit was decided to be held in March, 2014.
