IIT SEATS VACANT



NEW DELHI: This year, six new Indian Institutes of Technology were brought into being, each with 120 seats — that's a total of 720 seats. And yet, because the OBC, SC and ST quotas could not be filled up (as enough applicants could not get the generously-relaxed pass marks set for these categories), as many as 432 seats will go abegging.

Consider the absurdity of the situation. On the one hand, new IITs are being created at enormous cost; on the other, as many as 432 seats — that's the equivalent of three and a half IITs — are being allowed to go waste.

In Saturday's edition, we wrote a Times View saying: "To let over 430 seats in IITs go vacant is a criminal waste of infrastructure (such as faculty and physical facilities). Reservations are meant to give disadvantaged sections of society a boost. But where quotas cannot be filled because there aren't enough suitable candidates, the cut-off for general category should be relaxed so that all seats are used up — the cut-off will still be higher than for SC/STs, so no one can argue that it will dilute academic standards. As with airlines seats and hotel rooms, these seats are 'perishable', they must be filled the same year. This should not affect next year's quota."

This sorry situation is the result of two major education policies framed by the Centre. The government not only commissioned six new IITs, but simultaneously increased the number of quota seats (for which there are simply not enough eligible applicants). Despite the cut-off percentage being lowered in the name of affirmative action, the students have not made the grade. The old IITs can fill some of the seats with students from the preparatory course, but the new IITs have nothing to fall back on.

IIT-Guwahati director Gautam Barua said that the institute heads who are meeting later this month may ask the HRD ministry to dereserve unfilled quota seats. "There is no time this year but we may try to seek permission to transfer the vacant seats to the general category for next year," said Barua.

The prospect of empty chairs in the classroom has disheartened faculty members, many of whom echoed Saturday's Times View.

'Nearly 50% of reserved seats lying vacant'

Despite Centre's affirmative action by lowering the cutoff percentage for IIT exams, 432 seats still remain unoccupied. "Every IIT seat has the potential to produce a Nandan Nilekani or a Vinod Khosla," said a senior faculty from Kharagpur. "To allow even one seat to go vacant is like crushing a million dreams and aspirations."

More at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/