Lok Sabha Question No. 259 (STARRED), answered on 2022-03-21
Subject: Reservation in Ph.D Programmes at IITs
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Girish Chandra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 259 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2022

## Reservation in Ph.D Programmes at IITs

## 259.  SHRI GIRISH CHANDRA:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  students  from  the  Scheduled  Caste  and  Scheduled  Tribe communities  have  significantly  poor  representation  and  acceptance rate  in  Ph.D  programmes  at  the  Indian  Institutes  of  Technology  (IITs) in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof during the last five years and the current   year, course and category-wise and the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the  corrective  steps  taken/to  be  taken  by  the  Government  in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SH. DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (c) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (C)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.259 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2022 REGARDING 'RESERVATION IN Ph.D PROGRAMMES AT IITs' RAISED BY SHRI GIRISH CHANDRA, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

(a) to (b): The details of the application received, accepted and acceptance rate of  the  candidates  from  the  Scheduled  Caste  (SC)  and  Scheduled  Tribe  (ST) communities in Ph.D programmes at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are as under:-

| Year    | SC                    | SC                    | SC   | ST                    | ST                    | ST   | TOTAL (ALL CATEGORIES)   | TOTAL (ALL CATEGORIES)   | TOTAL (ALL CATEGORIES)   |
|---------|-----------------------|-----------------------|------|-----------------------|-----------------------|------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|         | Applications received | Applications accepted | %    | Applications received | Applications accepted | %    | Applications received    | Applications accepted    | %                        |
| 2016-17 | 12416                 | 413                   | 3.33 | 2242                  | 92                    | 4.10 | 114748                   | 4372                     | 3.81                     |
| 2017-18 | 12794                 | 427                   | 3.34 | 2175                  | 97                    | 4.46 | 108526                   | 4803                     | 4.43                     |
| 2018-19 | 15397                 | 468                   | 3.04 | 2787                  | 106                   | 3.80 | 127478                   | 5292                     | 4.15                     |
| 2019-20 | 16197                 | 524                   | 3.24 | 3302                  | 139                   | 4.21 | 134338                   | 5868                     | 4.37                     |
| 2020-21 | 21581                 | 660                   | 3.06 | 4572                  | 154                   | 3.37 | 182763                   | 6521                     | 3.57                     |
| 2021-22 | 19603                 | 605                   | 3.09 | 3805                  | 145                   | 3.81 | 166808                   | 6016                     | 3.61                     |

Some  of  the  reasons  for  poor  representation  and  acceptance  rate  in  PhD Programmes  can  be  attributed  to:  (i) High  level attrition due  to better employment opportunities; (ii) Family reasons for earning after graduation; (iii) Priority  towards  management  and  allied  subjects  by  Engineering  Graduates; (iv)  Self-employment after graduation with soft loan opportunities (Start-ups); (v)  Higher  salary/income  on  employment  after  Graduation  vis-a-vis  lesser fellowship/scholarship amount for pursuing research programmes etc.

(c):  IITs  are  autonomous  institutes  governed  by  the  Institutes  of  Technology Act, 1961 and the Statutes framed there under from time to time. Government has  mandated  IITs  to  comply  with  the  statutory  provisions  of  the  Central Education Institutes  (Reservation  in  Admission)  Act,  2006,  as  amended  from time to time, for admission  of  reserved category candidates  to various programmes including  PhD.  IITs  duly  follow  guidelines,  statutes,  norms  and directions issued by Central Government. IITs have taken various steps to fill up the PhD seats for SC/ST Students that include (i) Adherence of guidelines for implementation of reservation policy of the Government; (ii) Age relaxation upto 5 years; (iii) Relaxation in minimum qualifying marks; (iv) Exemption of tuition  fee  to  SC/ST  students;  (v)  Subsidized  application  fee;  (vi)  apart  from Tuition fee waiver, assistant-ship is extended to SC/ST scholars of the Institute for the sixth year of their PhD programme to ensure that the students do not drop  out  due  to  lack  of  financial  resources;  (vii)  More  PhD  applicants  are shortlisted  against  the  number  of  reserved  category  seats  available  for  PhD admission to ensure that enough applicants are available for admission under reserved categories; (viii) wide publicity to attract more applications on various platforms including social media, newspapers, websites, etc.

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