IIT-KGP gears up for OBC quota from coming session

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, January 23, 2007

IIT Kharagpur is likely to introduce 334 seats in the OBC quota from the coming academic session. The number of general seats will, however, remain the same.
The institute plans to implement the reservation in three years — 9 per cent in each phase. This would add up to 27 per cent reservation for OBC students — as laid down by the Centre — and a 54 per cent increase in total number of students by 2009. The human resources development ministry has not given any clear instruction on the general seats and the institute will not increase the number unless told.
IIT Kharagpur submitted its final plan for implementation of the OBC quota to the human resources ministry on January 17. It now awaits an official communication from the ministry. “As of now there has been no official communication but since the Bill has already been passed in Parliament, the quota is likely to be introduced in phases from 2007. The plan is to have at least 334 seats dedicated to the OBC category in the first year and whenever the government gives its orders, we will go ahead,” said professor S.K. Dube, director of IIT Kharagpur.
A total of 2,356 students took admission to IIT Kgp in 2006. Of them, 845 were enrolled for undergraduate programmes and 1,511 students for post-graduate programmes. This year, 125 of the new seats will be for undergraduate programmes and 210 for post-graduate ones. In 2008, the institute will add 446 seats, followed by 606 the year after that.
“We will be keeping the seats of the general category intact. Though the SC and ST students will continue to enjoy 15 per cent and 7.5 per cent reservation respectively but the number of reserved seats will go up since the total number of seats will be going up,” said professor Raja Kumar, head of a Perspective Plan Committee set up by the institute.
To ensure that the quota is implemented smoothly, the committee has also done a department-wise analysis on the intake pattern and market requirement.
The cost of implementation of the OBC quota has, however, been curtailed. Though IIT Kharagpur had initially asked for Rs 1,180 crore for the total project, it later brought down the figure to Rs 680 crore.
Keeping in mind the increase in number of seats, infrastructure development has already begun. “We are adding space to all the departments to facilitate extra students. Laboratories, faculty residences and hostels will also be constructed and the process of infrastructure development will go on till 2014,” Dube said.
IIT Kharagpur will also need 500 more teachers by 2012 to cater to the extra students. In the 2007-2008 academic session itself, the institute will have to recruit 60 teachers, followed by 92 more in 2008-2009 and 123 in 2009-2010.
But many of the existing faculty are not happy with the implementation of the OBC quota. “With his money the authority will not be able to create the required infrastructure. The present infrastructure itself is not enough to cater to the existing students. If this goes on, we feel that IIT will lose its academic standard,” a senior member of the faculty said.
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