SC/ST intake drops in departments across IITS, shows govt data
NEW DELHI: Fifteen of 31 departments at the Indian Institute of Technology (Iit)-delhi, and 16 of 26 in Iit-bombay did not admit any scheduled caste (SC) student last year in their doctoral programmes as part of a broader trend of lower recruitment from marginalised communities at the PHD level in these prestigious institutions, data furnished by government in Parliament shows.
When it came to enrolment of scheduled tribe (ST) students at the doctoral level, 19 departments at Iit-delhi and five at Iit-bombay didn’t admit any in 2020.
The data was part of a response by the Union education ministry to a question by CPI(M) member S Venkatesan in the Lok Sabha. The answer covered 23 IITS and provided information on SC, ST, other backward class (Obc)and economically backward class (EWS) students at the PHD level.
At all levels, the numbers were lower than the designated level of representation fixed by the government’s reservation policy: 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, 27% for OBC and 10% for EWS.
Some of the newer IITS had very few doctoral students from marginalised communities. In Iit-tirupati and Iit-palakkad, there were zero ST student admissions in any department at the PHD level in 2020, while in Iit-bhilai, IIT-GOA and Iit-dharwad, there was just one ST doctoral student admission.
Overall, the number of students stood far lower than the mandated quota. At Iit-delhi, the percentage of SC doctoral student admission was around 7%, that of ST students around 2.5% and OBC students at 18%. These figures in 2019 stood at 6.4%, 1% and 15%, respectively.
At Iit-bombay, the percentage of SC doctoral student admission was around 5%, that of ST students was 11% and OBC around 3%. These numbers stood at 8%, 1% and 20% respectively in 2019.
At Iit-madras, the percentage of SC doctoral admission was around 10%, ST around 3% and OBC around 23.5%. These figures stood at 8%, 4% and 24% in 2019.
Many of the institutes refused to comment, but some officials connected with PHD recruitment pointed out that the 2020 admission process was disrupted by the pandemic and the lockdown imposed to arrest its spread, because the digital divide and poor internet access hurt poor and marginalised students.
Iit-bombay said the institute strictly followed the government’s reservation policy and undertook extra efforts and lower cut off marks to fulfil the quota criteria. “IITS have very high expectations of our student input, which is needed to carry out research towards a PHD. While we do get sufficient candidates in certain departments, in some other departments, students of the required calibre tend to take up industry jobs rather than join for a PHD which has extra uncertainties and lower income levels during PHD and in some areas even post PHD. It is possible that the family background and economic level may have an impact on such candidates applying for a PHD,” it said in a statement.
Iit-kharagpur refused to comment on the matter. Iit-madras, too, didn’t respond officially but a senior faculty member said the low numbers was a general problem across IITS.
“Research requires a certain level of academic credentials to even get started where these candidates often lack and so we have to consider this as a larger problem from its root,” he said.
He said Iit-madras received 7,000-8,000 PHD applications annually. “We finally select 400 from that large pool so the competition is really tough. But we do care and go easy on the initial filtration so SC/ST candidates can come in for interviews and we work towards applying the government’s reservation,” he said.
Iit-delhi refused to officially comment but a senior official said the reason for no enrolment in certain categories of PHD courses was “unavailability” of eligible candidates. “In IIT-D we could not even fill all the seats in general category since we did not get enough eligible candidates... It’s not that IIT-D is discriminating...” the official added.
Experts said lower enrolment at the PHD level was a longstanding problem, and pointed to problems such as poor access to high-quality school education.
“For first generation learners or Dalit students, we have to see how school education is. Also, science education in mofussil towns or villages is generally dismal,” said Vivek Kumar, a professor of sociology at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Hansraj Suman, the chairperson of Delhi University’s SC, ST, and OBC teachers’ association said, “Even after passing the entrance exams, the SC/ST candidates face discrimination during the interviews.”
With inputs from Fareeha Iftikhar in Delhi, Priyanka Sahoo in Mumbai, and Divya Chandrababu in Chennai