Quotas for IIT faculty unlikely this year
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Services/Education/Quotas_for_IIT_faculty_unlikely_this_year/articleshow/3342498.cms
NEW DELHI: Quotas in the selection of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) faculty are unlikely to be implemented this academic year as these premier tech-schools want the government to reconsider the controversial proposal. All the 13 IITs, including the six new ones, have requested the human resource development (HRD) ministry for a “second thought” about implementing quotas for marginalised sections of society in the faculties.
“Nothing is finalised as yet. It's under review again,” IIT Delhi director Surendra Prasad told IANS. "Experts and the authorities are deliberating the situation in the ministry." The HRD ministry directed all the IITs in June to implement 27 percent quota for Other Backward Classes, 15 percent for Schedules Castes and 7.5 percent for Scheduled Castes in its faculty selection.
The decision came after the implementation of 27 percent quota in all central government aided higher educational institutes, albeit partially, this year. Soon after the direction was passed on to the IITs, the premier engineering colleges expressed their displeasure by protesting in campuses.
At least three IITs, including IIT Delhi, had carried out candlelight marches to express their dissent over the government decision. “We have lot of things to say but can we?” asked an IIT Delhi professor. “It's sad that government is not understanding the situation. In the IIT system, the best teachers should get a chance to mould students into leaders. There is no feeling of any social strata in the IITs,” the professor said requesting anonymity.
“The only consideration is talent and let's not dilute it.” An official of IIT Kharagpur said instead of implementing quota in faculty positions, the government must come forward to fill up the all ready vacant teaching posts. The shortage is most acute at IIT Roorkee, which has a sanctioned strength of 575 faculties but at present it has little less than 350 faculty members.
Similarly, IIT Delhi and IIT Guwahati are facing a faculty shortage of up to 15 percent. The situation in other IITs is not much different either. An IIT director told IANS that though all the IITs had asked the HRD ministry to reconsider the proposal, they were “almost helpless”. “Let me be very frank. We are government institutes and cannot defy government order. If they (government) think that whatever they are doing is right, there is no way we can stop them. The only victim will be quality,” the director said adding: “Let's watch.”
IITs reveal all: OBCs on par
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1181227
Saturday, August 02, 2008 2:53:00 AM
IITs reveal all: OBCs on par
Mihika Basu
In an attempt to make Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) procedures more
transparent, all editions of the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs)
for the first time displayed aggregate and subject-wise cutoffs,
relaxations applied for reserved categories and aggregate total of
different categories on the website on Friday. It also included
aggregate total and subject-wise marks of first and last-admitted
candidates, and opening and closing ranks of those admitted.
The IITs had decided to relax cut-offs for OBCs by 10% if required and
by 40% for SC/ST. But as reported earlier by DNA, figures revealed
that for OBCs, the IITs did not have to lower the aggregate cut-off
and it was the same (172) for common and OBC merit lists. Of the 8,652
candidates who cleared JEE, 1,134 OBC students (14.35%) found a place
in the common merit list.
However, for SC and ST students, cut-offs were 40% lower than
aggregate of last-qualified candidate in common list and 690 SCs and
159 STs qualified with relaxed aggregate cut-off of 103.2.
Aggregate marks of first ranker in common list was 433, it was 365 for
first OBC 0ranker, and 322 and 292 for first rankers of SC and ST
respectively.
Again, while the difference between aggregate total of first and
last-admitted general category candidate is 253 marks, the difference
is 174 between first and last admitted OBC candidate. This difference
becomes 218 marks for SC and 188 for ST categories. There is a
difference of just eight marks between last-admitted general and OBC
candidates, and it becomes 76 between last-admitted general and
last-admitted SC/ST candidates.
Analysis of the aggregate total for every 501st ranker in different
categories showed that there was a difference of 79 marks for OBC, 174
for SC from the 501st ranker in common merit list.
Significantly, individual subject-wise cutoffs, determined on the
basis that top 80% candidates qualify in each subject, cut-offs for
the general category were 5 in maths, 0 in physics and 3 in chemistry.
It was relaxed by 10% for OBC (4.5 in maths, 0 in physics and 2.7 in
chemistry) and 40% for SC/ST (3 in maths, 0 in physics and 1.8 in
chemistry. This procedure was adopted in JEE 2007.
"But subject cut-offs have been used only as a filtering criteria and
these are not the minimum marks of candidates admitted. It's the
aggregate marks that are used for ranking. Subject cut-offs don't make
any difference in the final list. Analysis has shown whatever be the
subject cut-off, there's not much difference up to top 20%," said an
IIT-Bombay professor.
Asked if subject wise cut-offs would be removed or changed next year,
outgoing IIT-B director Ashok Misra said that "it certainly needs to
be reviewed".
JEE 2008 papers with answers were also put out on the website.
Students were also able to check their performance card by entering
registration number and date of birth.
Just a handful of ST students make it
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Just_a_handful_of_ST_students_make_it/articleshow/3316734.cms
Just a handful of ST students make it
2 Aug 2008, 0152 hrs IST, Hemali Chhapia,TNN
MUMBAI: Union HRD minister Arjun Singh may not have dreamt of this
when he announced his plan to start six new IITs: just a handful of
Scheduled Tribe (ST) students — considered among the most backward
classes — has made it to the new institutions in 2008-09. Worse, most
seats reserved for SCs and STs in the older IITs are also vacant.
Of the 3.11 lakh students who took the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE),
8,514 were STs and 28,393 SCs. In all, the 13 IITs have 414 seats for
ST candidates, but only 159 students were shortlisted after the JEE.
Similarly, for the 832 seats reserved for SCs across 13 campuses, only
690 students qualified.
While some SC/ST seats in the older IITs will be filled by students
who were admitted to a preparatory course in 2007, there will be no
such admission in the newer IITs. There will be an "aberration" for
the new IITs in this regard, said IIT-Delhi director Surendra Prasad.
Each IIT sets aside 15% seats for SC and 7.5% seats for ST students.
The reserved category students were shortlisted after the IITs relaxed
entry norms drastically for them.
For instance, if the first candidate in the general category scored
433, his counterpart in the ST merit list scored 292. If one looks
lower down the order, the students who came last in the SC and ST
categories scored 104 each, with marks as low as 8 for the SC
candidate and 12 for the ST candidate in physics (see box). The
scenario for the new entrants__Other Backward Classes__is rather
different. No relaxation of marks was required to admit OBC students
and those seats were also not filled.
The IITs, which have already been lowering admission levels for SCs
and STs, now feel that with the number of seats for these categories
going up, while general category seats stay constant, a larger
population of students will have to be taken in, probably at
rock-bottom scores.
IIT-Bombay director Ashok Misra, who had pointed this out to the
Veerappa Moily Oversight Committee, feels the issue has been
completely overlooked. "To take in so many reserved category students,
admission criteria will have to be relaxed," he told TOI. The reserved
categories' tale keeps repeating itself over the years. Last year, the
aggregate score of the last ranker in the general category was 206;
the same scores for SC and ST candidates stood at 126. Several
reserved category students who scored below 126 were also taken in for
the year-long preparatory course.
A 1993 report by ex-IIT-Madras director P V Indiresan and ex-IIT-Delhi
director N C Nigam dwelled on the impact of quotas in IITs. "Nearly
50% of the reserved seats remain vacant as SC/ST students are unable
to secure the minimum threshold marks (two-thirds of the last
candidate admitted in the general category). Of those admitted, almost
25% are asked to leave due to poor performance," the report said.
Times View
To let over 430 seats in IITs go vacant is criminal waste of an
extremely precious resource. Reservations are justified to give a leg
up to disadvantaged sections of society. But where they are not able
to fill up the quota because enough suitable candidates are not
available, the cut-off for the general list should be relaxed so that
all seats are used up. These seats are "perishable"; if they are not
used this year, they can't be carried over next year. So, we should
not waste them and make optimum use of the infrastructure created.
This should, of course, in no way affect next year's quota.
SC, ST school dropout has gone up: CAG report
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/sc-st-school-dropout-has-gone-up-cag-report_10079311.html
SC, ST school dropout has gone up: CAG report
August 3rd, 2008 - 12:56 pm ICT by ANI
New Delhi, Aug 3 (ANI): A report of the Comptroller and Auditor
General (CAG) says that school dropout rates for students from
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) have gone up.
In a performance audit of the Educational Development of SC and ST in
India, the CAG has highlighted among other things, alarming gaps in
the Government''s policy implementation as far as Universalisation of
Elementary Education (UEE) for SCs and STs is concerned.
According to report, the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) And Gross Dropout
Rate (GDR) displayed an adverse trend in respect of SC and ST boys and
girls.
The drop out rate in respect of SCs and STs boys and girls increased
in 2003-04 with reference to 2001-02 in several states. The increase
ranged from 0.04 to 28.98 percent in 2003-04.
As per the 2001 Census, the SCs and STs constituted 16.23 and 8.2
percent respectively of the country''s population.
The literacy rate of the SCs and STs was 55 and 47 percent
respectively against the national literacy rate of 65 percent.
Seven and eight schemes were respectively are being implemented by the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs for the benefit of them.
These schemes cover a variety of benefits such as scholarships,
construction of hostels and schools, establishment of book banks,
provision of remedial and special coaching and sanction of
grant-in-aid to voluntary organizations.
The CAG also recommends that financial management and control of the
educational schemes for SCs and STs be strengthened by greater
attention to utilisation of funds, adjustment of unspent balances and
prevention of diversion of funds. (ANI)
More seats, IIT cut-offs drop
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3318417.cms
More seats, IIT cut-offs drop
2 Aug, 2008, 2030 hrs IST,Hemali Chhapia, TNN
Mumbai: The increase in the number of seats at the IITs may have spelt
good news, but entry levels have fallen at these hallowed
institutions. If the total seats went up from 5,537 to 6,992 this
year, the general category cut-off has fallen from 206 to 180 out of
489. Also, only a handful of ST students qualified for the six new
IITs.
Despite the "generous" relaxations the IITs provide for the quota
candidates , 397 SC/ST seats are going abegging and almost 35 OBC
seats are vacant. IIT-Madras director P V Indiresan said, "The drop in
cut-offs is significant. One reason could be that the IITs took in
more students. But there are other concerns—the JEE is outdated for
one. Also, the quality of quota candidates admitted is being
compromised as more students need to be taken in."
SORRY FIGURES
Overall cut-off marks have fallen from 206 to 180 this year as the
number of seats has gone up by 1,455. The cut-off for SC/STs is a mere
104.
3.11 lakh students took the JEE this year for 6,992 seats in 13 IITs.
Of these, 414 seats were reserved for ST candidates , but only 159
were shortlisted. Similarly, only 690 were shortlisted for the 832 SC
seats. The OBC figures were 1,099 out of 1,134. This means that 432
seats have gone abegging this year.
The top ranker in the general category scored 433 marks while the last
student to make it scored 180. Among SCs & STs, the toppers scored 322
and 292.
Experts say that a span of 14 marks can accommodate nearly 1,500
general category students. Assuming a cut-off of even 150, it means
that nearly 4,500 general category students have conceivably lost out
on an IIT education.
Times View:
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 the 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 airline seats and hotel rooms, these seats are 'perishable' ,
they must be filled the same year. This should not affect next year's
quota.
Problems of SC, ST students raised at grievance meet
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=86850
Mangalore: Problems of SC, ST students raised at grievance meet
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MANGALORE July 31: The problems faced by students belonging to
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in obtaining income certificates
in Mangalore taluk came to the fore at the first Mangalore
sub-division level SC, ST grievance redressal meet here on Wednesday.
Mangalore sub-division Assistant Commissioner Sameer Shukla, who
chaired the meet, directed the Mangalore tahshildar Raju Mogaveera
Koni to address the issue immediately.
District convener of Avibajitha Zilla Dalit Hitharakshana Vedike B.
Jinappa Bangerasaid application forms in the wrong format which were
being supplied by stationery stores in the city had created problems
for the applicants. The students were forced to be present in front of
the sub-registrar when the official verified an affidavit column in
the application before it was sent to the tahsildar's office, he said.
Noting that Revenue officials in other taluks in Dakshina Kannada and
Udupi were not insisting on such formalities, Mr. Bangera urged Mr.
Shukla to sort out the issue. The tahsildar assured Mr. Bangera that
he would instruct the officials concerned not to insist on the
sub-registrar countersigning the affidavit and also expedite the
process of issuing income certificates to applicants. The tahsildar
said the problems would be solved once "Nemmadi Kendras" at hoblis
became operational by August 10. Stating that a decision to this
effect was taken at a high-level meeting of Revenue officials in
Bangalore earlier this week, Mr. Raju said people would be able to
obtain 32 kinds of certificates at the kendras shortly. They would
only have to bring supporting documents, he said.
Applicants would no longer have to worry about application forms as
they would be generated at the kendras, where the data entry operator
would fill them based on the documents produced. Applicants would have
to pay Rs. 15 for obtaining a certificate, he said and added that it
would be issued after 10 days. Revenue officials at their level would
carry out the necessary checks during this period, he said.
Responding to charges of delay byRevenue officials in carrying out
survey of lands granted to applicants, Mr. Shukla said the Revenue
Department had decided to launch a special drive to clear all such
applications received since 2004. The drive would be taken up at
Moodbidri and Sullia in Mangalore and Puttur revenue sub-divisions, he
said and added that the department had sought the help of the Deputy
Director of Land Records.