A premier institution's next chapter begins not in a laboratory but in a pledge — that what knowledge creates must ultimately circle back to the nation that made it possible. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the launch of IIT Kanpur's 'Greater Than Us' fundraising campaign in New Delhi on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, calling the initiative far more than a financial drive.

What 'Greater Than Us' is asking alumni to do

Singh's address drew a clear line between institutional pride and institutional purpose. 'The purpose of a great institution is to serve something larger than any individual or generation,' he said, framing alumni support not as charity but as a civilisational compact. He specifically broadened the ask beyond donations — pointing to mentoring, professional networks, research partnerships and employment pathways for young graduates as equally vital contributions.

That framing matters. IIT Kanpur, established in 1959 and declared an institution of national importance under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, has produced generations of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs who have shaped both Indian industry and global technology. The 'Greater Than Us' campaign is an explicit call for that diaspora — spread across boardrooms, research universities and government offices worldwide — to reinvest in the institution that launched them.

The quad that Singh wants pulling in the same direction

Singh mapped a four-way partnership he sees as essential: academia, government, industry and philanthropy. When all four align around a shared purpose, he argued, research finds pathways to real-world application, promising ideas attract funding, and talent finds room to flourish. It is a governance model India has been inching toward under the National Education Policy 2020, which explicitly promotes academia-industry linkages and supplementary private funding for public institutions.

The Defence Minister's presence at an education fundraiser is itself a signal. Senior cabinet figures lending their credibility to IIT campaigns elevates the pitch from institutional to national — telling donors that what they fund lands on the right side of the country's strategic interests.

Why alumni philanthropy has become India's higher-education frontier

India's IITs have historically depended overwhelmingly on public budgets, leaving research infrastructure and scholarship endowments perpetually underfunded relative to global peers. Successive governments have pushed harder for alumni giving and industry-sponsored chairs, but the cultural habit of sustained institutional philanthropy is still being built. Campaigns like 'Greater Than Us' are an attempt to accelerate that culture — borrowing a page from the playbook of elite universities abroad where alumni endowments underwrite decades of independence and ambition.

Singh closed by congratulating those who conceived and advanced the campaign, while making clear that its success depends on 'the collective commitment of the entire IIT Kanpur community and all those who believe in the institution's future.' The campaign has been launched. Now comes the harder part — turning conviction into commitments.