COMMITTEE RESERVATION IN STUDENT’S ADMISSIONS AND FACULTY RECRUITMENT IN IIT’S
CONTEXT
- An eight-member committee appointed by the government for suggesting measures for effective implementation of reservation in student’s admissions and faculty recruitment in IITs has recommended that the 23 engineering schools should be exempted from reservations under CEI Act, 2019,
- Rather than specific quotas, diversity issues should be addressed through outreach campaigns and targeted recruitment of faculty.
Recommendations of Committee
- The report states that IITs should be added to the list of “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act 2019.
- Section 4 of the Act exempts “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” mentioned in the Schedule and minority institutions from providing reservation.
- Currently, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, National Brain Research Centre etc. all its 10 constituent units are covered under Section 4 of the law.
- If granting full exemption from reservations was not possible, the committee recommended that the implementation of reservation policies for all categories including Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) be restricted just to Assistant Professor Grade I and Grade II and not for levels above.
- Vacancies not filled in a particular year due to non-availability, be de-reserved in the subsequent year.
- Conduct of special recruitment drives to attract candidates from reserved categories.
- To address diversity issues, the report argued that a “system emphasising targeted goals over a period of time” and not “specific quotas” be followed so that IITs can “compete with other top institutions in the world in terms of excellence, output, research and teaching.”
The panel proposes a two-year Research Assistantship for students from reserved categories aspiring to join PhD programmes.