IIT Bombay accused of flouting reservation norms in PhD admissions 2023

PhD admissions 2023: The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) has accused the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) of denying 80 seats to SC, ST, and OBC students while admitting an additional 95 general category students for PhD admissions in 2023. The report is based on data obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application.

The APPSC asserts that IIT Bombay has again violated PhD admissions reservation rules despite professing to implement them. In 2012, the APPSC reported that IIT Bombay’s five departments had not admitted a single ST candidate in the previous eight years.

This year, 20 departments have not admitted any ST students, 11 departments have not admitted any SC students, and 5 departments have no OBC students, according to the new RTI response. In particular, the APPSC is concerned about the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA), which has not admitted ST pupils in the past nine years.

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According to the APPSC report, a sufficient number of students from each category passed the written exam and participated in interviews, but seats reserved for marginalised groups remained vacant. The Study Circle emphasises the importance of instituting accountability for such disparities.

In 2023’s PhD admissions, only 9 percent of SC seats and 3 percent of ST seats were filled, despite a large number of applicants from unreserved categories. The data revealed that the proportion of SC and ST admissions relative to general category admissions remained disproportionately low.