Data on participation of marginalised Communities in leading IITs

What is the News?

The Hindu Newspaper has published the data obtained through the RTI queries. Data provides info. on the representation of marginalized communities such as OBCs, SCs, and STs in the leading IITs of the country.

About the data:

• The RTI query data covers Ph.D. admissions made in the five-year period from 2015 to 2019. IITs covered are of Madras, Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, and Kharagpur.

Key Findings of the data:

• Selection of SCs and STs in PHDs: Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe applicants are half as likely to get selected for a Ph.D. program at leading IITs in the country as aspirants from the General Category (GC) are.
• Acceptance Rate: The acceptance rate refers to the number of students selected for every 100 students who applied. The acceptance rate stood at 4% for students from General Category. It falls to 2.7% for OBC students and further down to just 2.16% for SCs and 2.2% for STs.

Data given by Government in Parliament:

According to the Ministry of Education’s data submitted to Parliament last year:

The following data is based on the total admissions made by all IITs from 2015 to 2019:

• Only 2.1% went to STs and 9.1% to SCs. The government’s reservation policy mandates the allocation of 7.5% seats for students from the STs and 15% from SCs.
• Similarly, 23.2% of seats went to applicants from the OBCs against the 27% mandated by reservation.
• The remaining 65.6% or roughly two-thirds of all the seats went to General Category(GC) applicants.

Source: The Hindu