Kill the brand

Congressmen have a great knack of destroying prosperity. This time the Congress henchman Arjun Singh has set his eyes on IIMs and IITs. Possibly the only two institutes in India recognized the world over for the quality of their alumni.

But if something good resides in India, will UPA like it?

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[Link from Pioneer - copy pasted ]

Quota may unseat half of IIM, IIT merit-listers

Rajeev Ranjan Roy/ New Delhi After introducing a bill for reservation of seats for SC, ST and other backward classes in educational institutions, the Human Resource Development Ministry has initiated a move to increase the quota in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The move has evoked sharp reaction in academic circles, and is bound to generate a major controversy as the Ministry is planning to raise reservations from the current 22.5 per cent to as high as 49.5 per cent.

Currently, IIMs and IITs have 15 per cent seats reserved for SC students and 7.5 per cent for ST students. Ministry sources said the Government aspires to extend reservation facility to OBCs including Muslims as identified by the Mandal Commission.

"By increasing the percentage of reservation in IITs and IIMs, Human Resource Development Ministry is out to do a great disservice to meritorious students. We have seen during our days at IIT-K how the students from SC/ST having got entry through reservation used to suffer from inferiority complex. There used to be extra crash courses for them to ensure they cope with the syllabus," YPS Suri, secretary, IIT-K Alumni Foundation, said.

"Instead of compromising on merit to accommodate others at the centres of academic excellence like IIMs and IITs, the Government needs to provide effective primary education to students from deprived sections of the society. This will enable them to compete with others and carve a niche for themselves in the competitive world," Mr Suri added. non-SC/ST students in IIMs and IITs by taking the ceiling to 49.5 per cent. Reacting to the ministry's move to increase reservation levels in IIMs and IITs, a director of IIM told the Pioneer that while they are aware that such a decision is on the anvil, the Government has not yet communicated anything to this effect to them. "The move would certainly kick off a fresh bout of debate across the country. Every affirmative action should ensure merit is not being compromised. It has serious repercussions," he added.

"IITs and IIMs are brands symbolising quality education that India offers. This has been possible not because these institutes have quality faculty members, but also because of the fact that they get meritorious students at the entry level. You cannot make the sub-standard stuff excel. You pick up meritorious students from the weaker sections of the society, and prepare them for competitions," a senior researcher at IIT, Delhi, said.

Commenting on the reservation in IIMs and IITs, former Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) president Dr SS Rathi said: "The Government should ensure the merit is not compromised while admitting students in top class professional and technical institutions."

HRD Minister Arjun Singh has already written to States to frame laws in the light of the 104th Constitution Amendment, passed in the winter session of Parliament, which gives States the right to take steps that would ensure advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, SCs and STs in private educational institutions as well.

Ministry sources said increased reservation for backward categories in these premier central institutions is possible only with increased intakes.