After a recent question was raised in the Rajya Sabha with regards to the seat matrix of PhD programmes in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and their admission statistics, it has been revealed that the intake is unfairly skewed against students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBC). Students from these communities say that the situation has been unresolved for quite some time now.
Data points out that in 2021-22, not a single SC student was admitted into 12 such institutes, including IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Indore, Kashipur, Ranchi, Trichy, Amritsar, Jammu and Nagpur, among others. The data was provided by Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan in response to a question raised by Dr V Sivadasan in the Rajya Sabha on July 20, 2022, regarding the total number of students admitted to the PhD programmes in each Centrally Funded Technical Institute (CTFI) over the last five years — along with the total number of unfilled PhD seats and the number of eligible applications received for the same — with the SC/ST/OBC/EWS composition. EdexLive has a copy of this response.
The Constitutional mandate
As per Article 15 (4), (5), (6) of the Indian Constitution, CTFIs like IITs, IIMs and others are meant to reserve 15 per cent of seats for SC, 7.5 per cent for ST and 27 per cent for OBC candidates. Students and teachers from these communities say that the mandate hasn’t been implemented in these institutes. This issue, however, has been unresolved for a long time, despite continuous pressure from the Parliament and other student bodies in other IITs, including ChintaBAR — a collective of students in IIT Madras who engage in discussions on socially, economically and politically relevant topics — they say.
Begins with the admission process
Students say that the problems begin with the admission process for PhD seats. “The PhD admission process is very opaque. No one knows how much they scored in the interview or test, there is no communication. When we ask them (university officials) they say they do not have the document,” said Pranav Jeevan, a PhD student from IIT Bombay.
In 2021-22, out of 19,682 eligible candidates who applied for the programme at the institute, 608 students were admitted. At the onset of the admission process, students were informed that universities do not reveal the number of vacant seats. “At the time of admission, they should notify how many seats are vacant but most of them don't make it public. They should make it public,” said Devan from IIT Madras. These institutes should have a body consisting of students and faculty members to make sure the admission process is going smoothly, he noted. “Their argument is that they don't get applications from reserved category students, which is a lie. They have enough number of applicants. They are not getting selected, that is the issue,” he added. In 2021-22, out of 15,682 eligible PhD applications received by IIT Madras, only 536 of them were admitted, according to the aforementioned response by the Education Minister.
A similar thought was shared by Kiran Kumar, President of the All India OBC Student Association (AIOBCSA). “In spite of having applications, PhD seats are not being filled in these categories whereas the seats are being filled in general categories,” he said. His association, along with other like-minded parties will be meeting the Education Minister next month to discuss these issues.
Under-representation among faculty too
Not just students, the representation of these communities amongst faculty of the aforementioned institutes is minimal, students and teachers claim. “Majority of the faculty are from General category, very few candidates from SC/ST/OBC are in the faculty. The situation is not improving as expected even after the Parliament act on reservation for faculty,” a professor from IIT Roorkee told EdexLive, on the condition of anonymity. The Centre mandates a 27 per cent reservation in faculty positions for candidates from the OBC category, 15 per cent from SC and 7.5 per cent from ST.
“Many are applying but they (institutes) are declaring them as unsuitable. There is a lack of transparency as well, with regard to how they are preparing this merit list and on what basis. One candidate is having a PhD from IIT and has good credentials and marks but he/she is being declared unsuitable,” the professor said. Additionally, the reasons for denying posts to candidates are not elaborated on either, the professor said. “Why a candidate has been selected and why a candidate has not been selected is not known. They only say that an ‘expert committee’ decides the suitability,” the professor added.
Grievance redressal mechanism
While such caste-related issues persist, most of these institutes do not have functioning SC/ST/OBC grievance mechanism cells on campus for such issues to be deliberated upon, students claim. According to the 1998 University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines for the establishment of Special Cell for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the purpose of these cells is to help the universities in implementing the reservation policy with regard to the admission of students and the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff at various levels. Additionally, its function is also to help the SC/ST categories to integrate with the mainstream of the university community and to remove difficulties, which they may be experiencing.
Students, however, stated that most IITs do not have such cells, or even if they have, are not functioning. “Those who are responsible for creating the SC ST cell in the college do not have lower caste people in the panel,” said Pranav, the IIT Bombay PhD student. In institutes that do have such cells, professors say that they do not perform their duties. “They are expected to give monthly progress reports on roster and recruitment but they are saying that everything is fine or they are not sending reports. They are not highlighting the discrepancies and violations of policies because they are subordinate to the director of the institute. So they cannot do anything against their interests,” a professor said on the condition of anonymity.
Anti-reservation sentiment on campus
Adding to these restrictions, students reported the existence of an explicit upper-caste culture on campus. “Even the faculty is insensitive to people from these communities. We are taunted by them and such statements are openly made,” said Pranav. He added, “Upper caste students also don't want to learn under the very few faculty that belong to these communities."
The reasons conveyed by institutes for not admitting these students is that they are not ‘meritorious’. “They subtly convey that there is no merit among these communities. In case they are not competent to occupy these positions, then develop them to be competent. What else is the Ministry of Human Resource Development responsible for?” asked Prof Dasoju Sravan (who was with the Congress at the time this journalist spoke to him. Since then he has joined the BJP). Despite the authorities being insensitive, students say that they tried to put pressure by repeatedly filing RTIs with regards to the issue, informed Devan, from IIT-M.
And it's not just the IITs!
The problem persists even in other premier law institutions and national-level institutions, the professor said. For example, in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, students said that the college had published a merit list for admissions this year but left seats vacant for SC, ST and OBC students, despite the fact that candidates applied for the seats. “This has consistently been happening for the past two or three years now, from 2016 at least. Their excuse is that candidates did not pass the cut-offs,” said Avanti Basargekar, a student from the institute.
The problem of lack of transparency persists here too. “We don’t know why these cut-offs exist because the orientation and interview process is already done and they matter the most. It is still not a transparent process,” she added. However, the administration concedes that the cut-off is a problem and that they will change it from the next academic year, the student said. “But our demand is that the seats that have been left vacant now should be filled up,” Avanti said.
