Some candidates didn’t make it despite a relaxation in the cut-off mark; several also failed to prove their OBC status, according to the JEE organising committee.
As many as 469 seats reserved for the other backward classes (OBC) remain vacant after the first allotment of seats in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Some candidates didn’t make it despite a relaxation in the cut-off mark; several also failed to prove their OBC status, according to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) organising committee.
The older IITs are implementing the last phase of the 27% reservation for OBC candidates this year. The eight new IITs have been implementing the quota at one go.
“The IITs had set aside 2,570 seats for OBCs, but only 2,023 were filled. Some candidates could not establish their OBC status. Also, there were not enough qualified candidates. Further, many got the courses of their choice as general category students. The unfilled seats have therefore been transferred to the general category,” said TS Natarajan, JEE organising chairman and professor at IIT Madras.
Of the 2,570 seats under the OBC category, 78 (around 3%) are reserved for students with physical disabilities. Of the remaining 2,492 seats, only 2,023 have been filled.
Of the 1,27,760 OBC candidates who appeared for the JEE, only 2,357 could qualify. So, there was already a shortfall of over 200 candidates. And, of those who qualified, 868 candidates had to be selected by giving 10% relaxation, while the remaining 1,489 made it to the list on merit. “But, despite the relaxation, we couldn’t fill up all the seats,” said another JEE official.
In 2009, 1,949 OBC students had qualified for 1,594 seats. But 51 OBC seats were converted to the general category.
Similarly, for scheduled tribe (ST) candidates, 212 seats could not be filled this year. SC/ST candidates, along with students with physical disabilities, get 50% relaxation from the last general category candidate.
A further 50% relaxation is given to those who do not qualify so that they can be sent for the one-year preparatory course.
Of the 15,975 ST candidates who took the JEE this year, only 517 qualified to seek admission to 712 seats. Of these, 498 had to be selected by giving 50% relaxation.
“There are 721 seats for ST candidates, but we haven’t been able to fill 212 seats despite so much concession. These will be transferred to preparatory course. For PD candidates, 90 seats couldn’t be filled and have been transferred to the preparatory course,” Natarajan said.
In case of SC candidates, six seats are yet to be filled and the IITs are hoping to do so in the second round of allotment. In 2009, over 1,000 seats reserved for SCs and STs remained vacant and had to be transferred to the preparatory course and were filled after lowering the bar by another 50%. The exact picture will emerge after the second allotment on July 16.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}