In a statement released from the Central Executive Committee on 8th August 2021, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has drawn public attention towards the disadvantageous position of students belonging to the marginalised and backward groups in our premier Engineering & Technology institutions The statement invites attention to the admission and dropout figures from the under-graduate programmes in IITs, NITs and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs), which was released by the Ministry of Education, in response to the questions raised by Com. K. Somaprasad and Com. Dr. V. Sivadasan, MPs of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Parliament. The questions were raised by the MPs upon SFI’s request and this is part of a larger initiative of the SFI to bring out data on reservation compliance in the higher educational institutions.
SFI, in their analysis, claims that the data shows disparity among social groups in their enrollment at the undergraduate level programs at the CFTIs. As per the admission data from the ministry for the period 2016–2020 (Qn. No. 1969, 1173), a minimum of 683 SC seats, 831 ST seats and 591 OBC seats were found to be not filled in the CFTIs, with IITs, NITs and IISERs accounting for the major share of the seat loss. As per the student dropout data for the same period (Qn. No. 1969), 619 SC, 365 ST and 847 OBC students have dropped out. They form 2.4%, 2.9% and 1.7% of the total admitted SC, ST, OBC students at the undergraduate-level programmes during this period.
Table- Total under-graduate admission and dropout data (2016-20) of IITs, IIITs, IISc, IISERs, NITs and other CFTIs * excluding the institutions in the North Eastern region
| Name of Institution | Total Admission | SC Admission | ST Admission | OBC Admission | SC admission (%) | ST admission (%) | OBC admission (%) | SC seats Unfilled | ST seats Unfilled | OBC seats Unfilled | Total Dropouts | SC Dropouts | ST Dropouts | OBC Dropouts | SC dropouts (%) | ST dropouts (%) | OBC dropouts (%) |
| IITs | 63443 | 9591 | 4541 | 17586 | 15 | 7.2 | 28 | 55 | 311 | 32 | 445 | 95 | 55 | 90 | 21 | 12.4 | 20 |
| IIITs | 6572 | 1009 | 470 | 1825 | 15 | 7.2 | 28 | 5 | 27 | 16 | 246 | 48 | 25 | 48 | 20 | 10.2 | 20 |
| IISc Bangalore | 568 | 85 | 24 | 157 | 15 | 4.2 | 28 | 4 | 16 | 6 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 0.0 | 32 |
| IISERs | 6958 | 1075 | 470 | 1937 | 15 | 6.8 | 28 | 61 | 47 | 38 | 659 | 123 | 89 | 159 | 19 | 13.5 | 24 |
| NITs* | 92726 | 13717 | 6758 | 26741 | 15 | 7.3 | 29 | 378 | 300 | 382 | 2102 | 317 | 192 | 492 | 15 | 9.1 | 23 |
| Other CFTIs* | 3767 | 395 | 156 | 1054 | 10 | 4.1 | 28 | 180 | 130 | 123 | 178 | 30 | 4 | 49 | 17 | 2.2 | 28 |
| Total | 174034 | 25872 | 12419 | 49300 | 15 | 7.1 | 28 | 683 | 831 | 597 | 3658 | 619 | 365 | 847 | 17 | 10.0 | 23 |
Around 63% of the undergraduate dropouts at the top seven IITs belong to SCs, STs & OBCs, of which almost 40% are from the SC and ST groups. SC and ST groups together formed 42%, 40% and 30% of the dropouts at NIT Uttarakhand, Warangal and Calicut, although their share among the admission was only 24%, 23% and 20% at these institutions. Similar trends were observed at IISc, IISERs and IIITs, as well. Institutes which do not fall under the ambit of the CEI Act, 2006 were excluded from the analysis.
“SFI had already raised gross violations of reservation in PhD and MS admissions at IITs and other CFTIs, and the matter is currently under the consideration of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for the Welfare of SCs and STs. We will continue intervening in this issue to ensure social justice to the marginalized sections of the society,” said All India President V.P. Sanu and General Secretary Mayukh Biswas. SFI has reiterated its demands to the Ministry of Education to ensure the proper implementation of the CEI (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006 that mandates 15%, 7.5% and 27% reservation to students belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities, and to set up special cells for the welfare of students from SC/ST/OBC groups at all the Central Educational Institutions.
Institute-wise total under-graduate admission and dropout data (2016-2020) can be downloaded here
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