The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) — for the first time since their inception — have begun drafting plans to implement the quota for faculty members from this year onwards, despite protests from the IIT student community and opposition from some professors.
A few IITs are calling a board meeting next week to discuss the issue and chalk out a plan to this effect.
The HRD ministry has, meanwhile, assured the country's premier technical institutes that they can de-reserve the posts after a year if vacant till then.
IITs, according to a Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) directive, are expected to reserve 15 per cent quota for SCs, 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 per cent for OBCs in faculty positions.
However, till date, they only have had reservations for backward category candidates in administrative posts. They had not implemented quotas in faculty positions till date for "lack of a written directive", and neither had the HRD ministry clamped on them so far. Sources in the HRD ministry, however, allege that the IITs "skirted the issue till date".
The ministry has now written to the IITs asking them to furnish faculty data of the past three years. "We have given the details to the MHRD. We did try recruiting SC/ST faculty but could not do so as we could not find anyone with the required qualification," explains an IIT Guwahati professor.
"IITs always had quota for faculty. We, however, did not have a written directive from the MHRD on this issue. Besides, the clause that IITs can de-reserve the posts after a year, helps us put the quota in place," says an IIT director who did not wish to be named.
However, the severe faculty shortage issue at IITs may not get solved since "there being a dearth of quality faculty, the faculty seats anyway go vacant at the IITs. By reserving the seats for quota, it will not be much of a difference," said another IIT director. IIT Guwahati, for instance, had invited applications from candidates for the SC/ST faculty seats earlier.
It shortlisted four candidates, but could not recruit any as they did not match the qualification criteria.
Incidentally, last week, the IIT directors met in New Delhi at the meeting of the standing committee of the IIT council and requested that they should be exempted from making reservations for faculty like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Centre and the University Grants Commission (UGC) on a petition challenging the policy of extending reservation for the OBCs to faculty posts in the IITs, the Indian Institutes of Management, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.
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Showing posts with label IITs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IITs. Show all posts
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
OBC quota for faculty posts in IITs challenged
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre and the University Grant Commission on a petition challenging the policy of extending reservation for the Other Backward Classes to faculty posts in the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. A Bench consisting of Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justices P. Sathasivam and J.M. Panchal issued the notice on the petition from Citizens for Equality contending that implementation of reservation in posts at the level of associate professor and professors would amount to diluting teaching standards to accommodate the political mandate.
“State onus ignored”
Senior counsel K. K. Venugopal, appearing for the petitioner, said these measures were sought to be substantiated solely on the principle of amelioration of the backward classes while ignoring the onus on the state to develop centres of research excellence and merit.
The petitioner said the measures adopted by the government as well as the Central grant-in-aid institutions to introduce and further reservation in the faculty posts up to and including the professorial level were reprehensible. The JNU, which was an institution based purely on merit and excellence, should now dilute its high standards to accommodate the political mandate.
The petitioner questioned the UGC direction to implement 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in all grant-in-aid-institutions, except minority institutions, funded by the Centre.
There could be no quota in institutions of excellence in research and super-specialisation, where the sole criterion was merit.
“State onus ignored”
Senior counsel K. K. Venugopal, appearing for the petitioner, said these measures were sought to be substantiated solely on the principle of amelioration of the backward classes while ignoring the onus on the state to develop centres of research excellence and merit.
The petitioner said the measures adopted by the government as well as the Central grant-in-aid institutions to introduce and further reservation in the faculty posts up to and including the professorial level were reprehensible. The JNU, which was an institution based purely on merit and excellence, should now dilute its high standards to accommodate the political mandate.
The petitioner questioned the UGC direction to implement 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in all grant-in-aid-institutions, except minority institutions, funded by the Centre.
There could be no quota in institutions of excellence in research and super-specialisation, where the sole criterion was merit.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
IIT faculty too will have quota
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will introduce reservations in faculty positions for the first time since their inception. A Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) directive mandates that the apex technical institutes will have to reserve 15 per cent quota for SCs, 7.5 per cent quota for STs and 27 per cent quota for OBCs in faculty positions.
The IITs so far had claimed that they have been granted exemption from reserving faculty positions. MHRD sources, however, say that the IITs have been violating regulations so far. "They have never been granted exemption from quotas for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and Other Backward Classes.
They have just been skirting the issue for a long time," said a source from MHRD. The IITs, hence, will have to implement the quotas in all future appointments. The decision was taken at a meeting of the IIT standing committee in May where the government was of the view the institutes will have to enforce quotas with immediate effect.
The government had introduced 22.5 per cent reservation in administrative jobs at the IITs for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes following amendments to the Constitution in 1951.
Based on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report, the quota was extended by 27 per cent in the early 90s to cover the Other Backward Classes.
The IITs so far had claimed that they have been granted exemption from reserving faculty positions. MHRD sources, however, say that the IITs have been violating regulations so far. "They have never been granted exemption from quotas for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and Other Backward Classes.
They have just been skirting the issue for a long time," said a source from MHRD. The IITs, hence, will have to implement the quotas in all future appointments. The decision was taken at a meeting of the IIT standing committee in May where the government was of the view the institutes will have to enforce quotas with immediate effect.
The government had introduced 22.5 per cent reservation in administrative jobs at the IITs for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes following amendments to the Constitution in 1951.
Based on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report, the quota was extended by 27 per cent in the early 90s to cover the Other Backward Classes.
Friday, June 13, 2008
An all-girl IIT will face faculty issue
The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry's proposal to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) exclusively for girls has intrigued the faculty and management of existing IITs.
However, sources in the Planning Commission say they have not received any formal communication from the HRD Ministry to allocate finances for the an all-girl IIT. "The project could be at the concept level. We have not received any communication from the HRD ministry so far on this subject," said a Planning Commission member on condition of anonymity.
HRD minister Arjun Singh recently indicated his consent for a girls-only IIT named after Indira Gandhi, with support from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the project. The move is in sync with President Pratibha Patil's suggestion to the government on March 11 to set up an IIT exclusively for girls. She had also suggested that the all-girls IIT be built in Amravati (Maharashtra), her former Lok Sabha constituency.
Patil's proposal in March suggested that the all-girls IIT offer only 'integrated' courses so that students immediately after school can join the institute and pass out with post-graduate degrees after five years. Currently, the existing seven IITs have some five-year integrated courses on offer, but Patil wanted to make them mandatory across all streams.
However, sources in the Planning Commission say they have not received any formal communication from the HRD Ministry to allocate finances for the an all-girl IIT. "The project could be at the concept level. We have not received any communication from the HRD ministry so far on this subject," said a Planning Commission member on condition of anonymity.
HRD minister Arjun Singh recently indicated his consent for a girls-only IIT named after Indira Gandhi, with support from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the project. The move is in sync with President Pratibha Patil's suggestion to the government on March 11 to set up an IIT exclusively for girls. She had also suggested that the all-girls IIT be built in Amravati (Maharashtra), her former Lok Sabha constituency.
Patil's proposal in March suggested that the all-girls IIT offer only 'integrated' courses so that students immediately after school can join the institute and pass out with post-graduate degrees after five years. Currently, the existing seven IITs have some five-year integrated courses on offer, but Patil wanted to make them mandatory across all streams.
Friday, May 30, 2008
AP State bags majority of seats in IITs
Nearly 2,000 students from the State will enter the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year, which is nearly 30 per cent of the 6,000 odd seats, including the new IITs coming up from this year.
The All India first rank in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category was bagged by Rapolu Nikhil Simha while first in the State in the open category is the all India 7th ranker Ch. Dinesh. Both the students belong to Sri Chaitanya institutions. The all India 8th ranker and second in the State M. Praneeth comes from the Chukka Ramaiah institute.
Interestingly, among the 2,000 students likely to get into IITs from the State come from Narayana institutions (1,078 students), Sri Chaitanya institutions (733 students) and Ramaiah institute (118 students). A few other institutes like Delta Educational Academy, FIIT-JEE and Krishna Murthy Academy contributed some students to the total.
Growing awareness among parents and the performance of senior students in the IIT coupled with the craze for IIT education in the State are said to be the reasons for the stupendous performance. Changes in the Intermediate curriculum taking it closer to CBSE syllabus is another reason.
Moreover, during the last two years corporate colleges have designed special curriculum for IIT coaching and that seems to have also contributed to the higher success rate, given the massive increase in number of successful candidates from both Narayana and Sri Chaitanya.
B.S. Rao, Chairman of Sri Chaitanya, agreed that the academic plans and introduction of students to the changing patterns have really helped while P. Narayana of Narayana institutions said if the Intermediate syllabus is further modified, State students could bag 50 per cent of the IIT seats.
The All India first rank in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category was bagged by Rapolu Nikhil Simha while first in the State in the open category is the all India 7th ranker Ch. Dinesh. Both the students belong to Sri Chaitanya institutions. The all India 8th ranker and second in the State M. Praneeth comes from the Chukka Ramaiah institute.
Interestingly, among the 2,000 students likely to get into IITs from the State come from Narayana institutions (1,078 students), Sri Chaitanya institutions (733 students) and Ramaiah institute (118 students). A few other institutes like Delta Educational Academy, FIIT-JEE and Krishna Murthy Academy contributed some students to the total.
Growing awareness among parents and the performance of senior students in the IIT coupled with the craze for IIT education in the State are said to be the reasons for the stupendous performance. Changes in the Intermediate curriculum taking it closer to CBSE syllabus is another reason.
Moreover, during the last two years corporate colleges have designed special curriculum for IIT coaching and that seems to have also contributed to the higher success rate, given the massive increase in number of successful candidates from both Narayana and Sri Chaitanya.
B.S. Rao, Chairman of Sri Chaitanya, agreed that the academic plans and introduction of students to the changing patterns have really helped while P. Narayana of Narayana institutions said if the Intermediate syllabus is further modified, State students could bag 50 per cent of the IIT seats.
Mumbai boy tops IIT-JEE 2008
Results of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2008 for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology were declared on Friday. Shitikanth from the Bombay zone is the All-India topper in the prestigious examination.
Of the 3,11,258 candidates who appeared in the examination conducted on April 13, 8,652 candidates have been declared qualified to seek admission in the 6,872 seats in IITs at Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Mumbai, Roorkee and some proposed new IITs, Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University and Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad.
“Consequent to the government of India issuing notification for the setting up of eight new IITs in the 11th Plan, admissions to three more new IITs in Punjab, Gujarat and Orissa, other than at Hyderabad, Patna and Rajasthan, for the academic session 2008-09 are likely to be made through JEE-2008,” said an official release.
One of the important features of this year’s result is that reservation for the Other Backward Classes has been implemented and a separate list for such candidates has been declared.
From the Delhi zone, 51, 373 candidates appeared in the exam and 1, 549 qualified for admission. Nikhil Garg has topped the Delhi zone with an All-India sixth rank.
This year 78,159 girls appeared for the JEE 2008 and 840 of them were able to crack it. The number of girl candidates qualifying the exam has increased by 43 per cent since last year.
N. Vasuki from the Madras zone has topped the list of girl candidates, having secured an All-India 14th rank.
This year, 72,116 OBC candidates appeared in JEE, of which 1,134 have qualified.
Of the 28,393 candidates from the Scheduled Castes, 690 have qualified, whereas of the 8,514 examinees from the Scheduled Tribes’ category, 159 have cleared it.
Twenty candidates with certified physical disabilities will be granted admission with relaxed norms.
The examination was conducted at more than 600 centres across the country. For the first time, a JEE centre had been opened outside India at Dubai.
Of the 3,11,258 candidates who appeared in the examination conducted on April 13, 8,652 candidates have been declared qualified to seek admission in the 6,872 seats in IITs at Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Mumbai, Roorkee and some proposed new IITs, Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University and Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad.
“Consequent to the government of India issuing notification for the setting up of eight new IITs in the 11th Plan, admissions to three more new IITs in Punjab, Gujarat and Orissa, other than at Hyderabad, Patna and Rajasthan, for the academic session 2008-09 are likely to be made through JEE-2008,” said an official release.
One of the important features of this year’s result is that reservation for the Other Backward Classes has been implemented and a separate list for such candidates has been declared.
From the Delhi zone, 51, 373 candidates appeared in the exam and 1, 549 qualified for admission. Nikhil Garg has topped the Delhi zone with an All-India sixth rank.
This year 78,159 girls appeared for the JEE 2008 and 840 of them were able to crack it. The number of girl candidates qualifying the exam has increased by 43 per cent since last year.
N. Vasuki from the Madras zone has topped the list of girl candidates, having secured an All-India 14th rank.
This year, 72,116 OBC candidates appeared in JEE, of which 1,134 have qualified.
Of the 28,393 candidates from the Scheduled Castes, 690 have qualified, whereas of the 8,514 examinees from the Scheduled Tribes’ category, 159 have cleared it.
Twenty candidates with certified physical disabilities will be granted admission with relaxed norms.
The examination was conducted at more than 600 centres across the country. For the first time, a JEE centre had been opened outside India at Dubai.
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