Elite institutions will determine their own threshold: committee

Anita Joshua

Admissions must be decided by the institutions




Cut-off for OBCs to be somewhere midway between those for SC/STs
Preparatory courses suggested to bring OBC candidates on a par with
fellow students


NEW DELHI: Merit will not necessarily become a casualty once the
Government's reservation policy for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is
in place; at least not in top-of-the-line institutions such as the
Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the
All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The Oversight Committee — entrusted with preparing a roadmap for
implementing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Central educational
institutions — says the threshold for admissions to these institutions
should be determined by themselves, as is done today, commensurate
with the level of its excellence.

In its interim report submitted to the Government last week, the
Committee justified this hands-off strategy vis-a-vis the admission
criteria as an acknowledgement of the fact that the IITs, IIMs, IISc
and AIIMS and other such "exceptional quality institutions" which have
established a global reputation can maintain that standard only if the
highest quality in both faculty and students is ensured.

Even in the case of the other Central educational institutions, the
Committee has suggested that cut-off for OBCs be placed somewhere
"midway between those for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and the
unreserved category, carefully calibrated so that the principles of
both equity and excellence can be maintained." These recommendations
are based on inputs gathered by the five sub-committees from the
various Central educational institutions.

The sub-committee for management education institutions reported to
the Oversight Committee that the IIMs were very keen on their position
that "High standards and quality must be maintained and assured in the
whole process of expansion. There must be no unjustifiable demands on
the institutes to lower admission standards in order to accommodate
the enhanced intake." Also, the IIMs are clear that OBC reservation
should be confined to the post-graduate diploma and equivalent
programmes as is the case with SC/ST candidates.

Similarly, the sub-group for engineering institutions told the
Oversight Committee that admission criteria and cut-off "may be left
to the Joint Advisory Board of the IITs or the respective Board of
Governors." According to the sub-group, the cut-off figures should not
be lowered to fill the reserved seats. Like the management sub-group,
the engineering sub-group has suggested remedial preparatory courses
to bring OBC candidates on a competitive level with fellow students.