New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's remarks that faculty of the premier IITs and IIMs are "not world class" today prompted a retort from the teachers who termed them as "simplistic" which showed "tremendous ignorance".

Ramesh kicked up a controversy yesterday by claiming that the faculty of the IITs and IIMs are "not world class" but said these institutions are "excellent" because of the quality of students.

"It shows that Jairam Ramesh has shown tremendous ignorance about the intellectual capabilities of these institutions. I would not deny the fact that these institutions needs to do much more," said Anil Gupta, a Professor with IIM-Ahmedabad.

However, he said, it was not right to say that the faculty was not contributing.

"But to say that faculty is not making any contribution and and it is just because of the quality of students...then people should take the CAT scores and give job to them.