Lok Sabha Question No. 1839 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-01
Subject: Implementation of reservation in PhD courses
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri S Venkatesan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 1839

TO BE ANSWERED ON- 01/08/2024

## IMPLEMENTATION OF RESERVATION IN PHD COURSES

## 1839 SHRI S VENKATESAN:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: -

- (a) the number of ST students admitted in PhD programmes of IITs during the last two academic years, institution-wise; and
- (b) the measures taken by the Government to ensure strict implementation of reservation in PhD courses of IITs, if any?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY)

- (a) & (b): Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing the scheme of National Fellowship for  ST  students  since  2017-18. There  are  750  slots  every  year  for  fellowships  for M.Phil/M.Phil +PhD/Ph.D. The students are selected by merit based on marks obtained by them in Post graduation.

In  order  to  promote  intake  of  ST  students  in  IITs,  the  Ministry  has  done  away  with requirement  of  minimum  55% marks at the final  examination/grading  at  PG level  for students who have got offer of admission in IITs/AIIMS/IIMs/IISER. They are out rightly eligible  for  scholarship  without  any  merit  requirement.   The  measure  was  taken  to incentivize students  for pursuing Ph.D courses in premier institutes including IITs.  The Institute wise details of students selected in IITs under Fellowship Scheme of the Ministry is as under:

| Sl.No.   | Name of the Institutes                                            | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   | No. of students selected in IITS for Ph.D course   |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|          |                                                                   | 2017- 18                                           | 2018- 19                                           | 2019- 20                                           | 2020- 21                                           | 2022- 23                                           | 2023- 24                                           | Grand Total                                        |
| 1        | Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi                             |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    | 1                                                  | 1*                                                 | 2                                                  |
| 2        | Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur                         | 4                                                  |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    | 4                                                  |
| 3        | Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar                        |                                                    |                                                    | 4                                                  |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    | 4                                                  |
| 4        | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati                           |                                                    |                                                    | 2                                                  | 3                                                  | 1                                                  |                                                    | 6                                                  |
| 5        | Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad                          |                                                    | 4                                                  |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    | 4                                                  |
| 6        | Indian Institute of Technology, Indore                            |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    | 1                                                  |                                                    | 1                                                  |
| 7        | Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400076 |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    |                                                    | 1                                                  |
|          | Grand Total                                                       | 4                                                  | 4                                                  | 6                                                  | 3                                                  | 3                                                  | 1                                                  | 21                                                 |

-  Student preferred to avail other scholarship from IIT, Delhi.

Besides this, as informed by Ministry of Education, a total of 137 and 163 students of ST category were admitted into IITs in the Academic Year 2022-23 and 2023-24 respectively. Further IITs have taken various  steps  to  fill  up  their  PhD  seats  for  SC/ST  students  that  include  age  relaxation;  relaxation  in minimum qualifying marks; exemption of tuition fee & subsidized application fee for SC/ST students; shortlisting  more  PhD  applicants  against  the  number  of  reserved  category  seats  available  for  PhD admission to ensure that enough applications are available for admission under reserved categories; wide publicity to attract more applications on various platforms including social media, newspapers, websites, etc.

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