The Ministry of Education has entrusted the National Institute of Technology - Rourkela (NIT-R) for the second time in a row to conduct centralised counselling for the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) 2023 for admission into Under-Graduate (UG) technical programmes, according to The New Indian Express.
In another significant decision benefiting the students holding OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) and PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) cards, this year for the admission, the CSAB has allowed them for admission to seats for Indian nationals in the NIT+ system from this year, in line with a related Supreme Court (SC) order.
Reliable sources said that the core committee of the CSAB - 2023, led by CSAB Chairman and NIT-R Director Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao on May 9, Tuesday, took a decision to treat OCI and PIO card holders at par with Indian students and allow them to compete for seats meant for Indian nationals.
However, the OCI or PIO card holders would neither be given the benefits of caste reservation nor the home state quota. They can only avail reservation benefits meant for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).
NRIs can compete for seats reserved for Indians
Incidentally, before March 2021, the aspiring overseas students with OCI and PIO cards were entitled to the rights and privileges of students with Indian citizenship. However, for a central government notification on March 4, 2021 the Indian origin students living abroad were treated as foreigners and were eligible for only seats for NRIs and not for seats for Indian nationals.
However, following a Supreme Court judgement in February 2023 the National Testing Agency (NTA) changed the criteria for OCI and PIO card holders for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2023 treating them at par with Indian candidates.
Taking a cue from this the CSAB in line with the SC judgement has decided to introduce changes to benefit candidates with OCI and PIO cards.
CSAB's local organising committee Chairman, Prof Mukesh Gupta said OCI and PIO card holders will be treated at par with Indian nationals in allocation of seats for the CSAB 2023 as decided by the CSAB in line with the SC order.
The CSAB - 2023 and the Joint Admission Board - IIT (JAB-IIT) under the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) -2023 will be conducting the admission process for above 90 institutes of national repute including 31 NITs, one IIEST, 26 IIITs, 33 GFTIs and 3 Schools of Planning & Architecture (together called NIT+ system) for 2023-24.
