IIT alumni to meet Raju and ask for review of new IIT-JEE

Not losing any time, the IIT Delhi Alumni Association has sought a meeting with the new Human Resource Development minister Pallam Raju next week to review the new IIT joint entrance exam format that was introduced by his predecessor Kapil Sibal. Raju assumed office on Wednesday following the cabinet re-shuffle on Sunday. The change in guard in the high profile ministry has been welcomed by sections of the IIT fraternity who were critical of Sibal’s controversial ‘one nation one test’ policy that was perceived as interfering with the autonomy of the IITs. Read report here [caption id=“attachment_510865” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] “With a change in command in the ministry of HRD, we are re-energising our drive to make the Government understand that the new IIT-JEE pattern will solve none of the three problems Mr Sibal had identified. Rather the new pattern does exactly the opposite,” said Somnath Bharti, president of the IIT Delhi Alumni Association. In a letter addressed to the minister, Bharti states that the issue of admissions concerns not only the autonomy of the IITs but will affect ‘brand IIT’. “We are looking to you for help to remedy the situation and to help IIT retain its high standards…” the letter states. Earlier this year Sibal raised quite a storm in IIT circles with his announcement of a common entrance test for all centrally-funded technical institutes that would also give weightage to board marks. The stand-off between the former minister and the IITs ended with a compromise two-test formula, with the common test serving as a screening round for entrance to the IITs.