Dharmendra Pradhan asks IITs, NITs, central institutions to stop de-reservation of seats: Report

NEW DELHI: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, has asked the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and central universities to stop transferring unfilled reserved seats to open category immediately, the Times of India reported. The education minister has asked the institutions to strictly follow the reservation policy, the report said.

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The education minister has reportedly sought a compliance report from the institutions at the earliest. Pradhan has also asked colleges to reduce the cutoffs for the reserved category if required and provide them with additional year of study, as per the report.

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A senior official of the education ministry told TOI, “It has come to the notice of the ministry that some central educational institutions or agencies have been carrying out de-reservation of unfilled General-EWS and OBC (non-creamy layer) seats by transferring them to the open or general category during admissions. We have also received a number of verbal and written intimations of such practices in recent times.”

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The official added that the education minister instructed central institutions including IITs and NITs to stop the de-reservation immediately and to follow the reservation-related provisions in letter and spirit, the report said.

Further, Pradhan asked the institutions to ensure that the reserved seats are filled and to provide coaching and supplementary year of study to disadvantaged students if required along with support for exams, counselling and admissions.