No State Quota in New IIITs
A human resource development ministry-appointed
committee has rejected a key demand from different
states to have domicile-based reservation in the
20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs)
to be rolled out from next year.
T. V. Mohandas Pai, who heads the expert committee
to recommend criteria for selection of industry partners as well as proposals from
states to set up 20 IIITs in public-private partnership mode, has not favoured the
system of having state quota or giving preferential treatment to the state students
in admissions to the top institutes.
During a workshop convened by the HRD ministry last month, Pai clarified that the
system followed by National Institutes of Technology - of setting aside 50% of seats
for state students - would not be followed in the case of the new IIITs. Some states
have made a vehement pitch for local quota, saying they were contributing more than
half the amount to set up these institutes in the form of land. Pai clarifying that
the scheme, in its present form, did not provide for such an arrangement (of having
state quota).
The proposed IIITs, which will be set up in phases over a nine-year period starting
2011, will admit students through a national-level entrance test, like the All-India Engineering Entrance Exam. The existing
IIITs, like the ones in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bhubaneshwar, will mentor
the new ones.
Courtesy: Times of India
