No state quota in new IITs
BANGALORE: A human resource development ministry-appointed committee has rejected a key demand from different states to have domicile-based reservation in the 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) to be rolled out from next year. T V Mohandas Pai, who heads the expert committee to recommend criteria for selection of industry partners as well as proposals from states to set up 20 IIITs in public-private partnership mode, has not favoured the system of having state quota or giving preferential treatment to the state students in admissions to the top institutes. During a workshop convened by the HRD ministry last month, Pai clarified that the system followed by National Institutes of Technology -- of setting aside 50% of seats for state students -- would not be followed in the case of the new IIITs. Some states have made a vehement pitch for local quota, saying they were contributing more than half the amount to set up these institutes in the form of land. The minutes...