Over 200 Merit Students Lose Seats

• Incentive for government school students dashes their hope
• More girls secure seats than boys
• Counselling on July 24-25; classes from July 26

More than 200 meritorious students have lost seats in IIITs because of a norm giving advantage for the students studied in government schools. This was disclosed by Prof RV Rajkumar, Vice Chancellor of RGUKT (Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies), who released the merit list of candidates for admission into six year Integrated course in the three IIITs at Basara, Nuziveedu and Idupulapaya. "The total number of students who secured 10.0 GPA (Grade Point Average in SSC exams) who have applied for admission into IIITs was 541. Out of them, more than 300 students were given admission. The remaining have lost it because of a clause which facilitated 0.4 percent inclusion of marks for students who studied in Government schools. The reservation policy has also scuttled the chances of students" he explained. When asked why the RGUKT, the governing body of IIITs, could not retain the cream of students, he said- "What can we do? The 0.4% depravation norm has been included by an Act of Legislature. The whole idea of creating IIITs was to help the bright brains of rural areas do tech courses on par with other such institutes in the country. We cannot defeat this aim". As many as 2,804 students out of 3,000 have been shortlisted for admission into the three IIITs. The counselling will be held on July 24 and 25 at the respective institutes. Candidates who fail to turn up on the date will lose the seat, Prof Rajkumar made it clear. "We prepared a waiting list of 550 students and in place of those who would not join, students from waiting list will be given chance in order of merit and reservation. Let me make it clear that all those who are in the waiting list will not get admission. It is only a provisional list and subject to availability of seats" he said. The remaining 1,200 seats (out of a total of 3,000) are meant for special category students. The classes will commence from July 26, he added. In accordance with the Presidential Order, seats were allotted to regions. Girls got more number of seats than boys and the ratio was 52: 48. The overall students selected from Government schools including ZP and municipal schools was 81 percent and those from private and other schools- 19 percent. A total of 86.76 percent students who secured admission were from rural areas and the remaining 13.24 percent from urban areas.