IIT decides to admit students who score less than 6% in entrance exams

Days after IIT Roorkee expelled 73 students for faring badly in the first year B Tech programme, the institution has once again managed to make headlines after it announced that this year onwards, it will admit students from backward sections with scores less than 6.1 percent  in the entrance exam, reports TOI. [caption id=“attachment_2341864” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. AFP[/caption] A score of 6.1 percent means that the institution is ready to lower the bar to admit students with scores as less as 31 out of 504 to ensure that vacant seats are filled. After its first round of seats allocation, it is estimated that about 591 seats are left, most of which are reserved for students who are disabled and are from a disadvantaged background, reported DNA. Apart from the problem of seats lying vacant, the reason for IIT’s lowering its cut-offs also stem from the fact that there have been higher negative marking in JEE (Advanced) evaluation this year coupled with a number of subjective component questions. As a result, the IITs had modified their cut-offs from 35 percent to 24.5 percent in the general category and to 12.25% in the reserved category before the first round of seat allocations, though that couldn’t help them fill all their seats. Reacting to the situation, an IIT director, told TOI that to avoid such a situation, the government should prioritise improving secondary education.