Not so long ago the central government announced that the other-states quota has been abolished from the admission into NITs. The reason behind this was that less talented and less deserving candidates from other states have made it into the NITs through this quota leaving better candidates high and dry. It is true that this has been the case with some states. But what this brought to the NITs and its students is a great diversity. There were students from all parts of the nation- Assam, Sikkim, Kashmir, Andaman, Gujarat etc.- and the students who made it in from these states were among the best talents. Only in very few cases were these students below par. As a student who has just come out of NIT, Trichy I believe that the peer group of which I was a part- NRIs, students from most other states and several from my very own school and city- was excellent and my learnings from the institute and the people who studied with me can be matched by no other place.
But soon all that is set to change, since from now on there shall be a 50% quota for the state in which the particular NIT resides and the remaining 50% shall be admitted through only on an All India Rank basis irrespective of which state the student hails from. Has the government not noticed or does it just choose not to notice that a majority of the top rank holders(AIR Top 1000) come from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and that this quota is only going to result in the loss of the great diversity that the NITs have been boasting of. What is even more funny is the case of NIT Warrangal, which is situated in Andhra Pradesh and hence will have a 50% quota for its students. The remaining 50% will also comprise mostly of students from the same state especially because it is the state which is able to produce the ranks. I guess simple math will result in NIT Warrangal effectively ending up with 100% state quota. This is not to say that the students from Andhra and Rajasthan who are performing well are are not worthy candidates, but I would like to stress that those students who are performing well in both their Board examinations and are able to cough up excellent ranks in these competitive entrance tests don't get their due.
A close look at the candidates from Andhra and Rajasthan will show you that more than 70% of them are at least a year or two older than the normal candidate and that they have been doing nothing else but prepare for these entrance tests after finishing their high school. This is what led to the IITs placing an upper cap on the number of attempts that people could give for the IIT JEE. Several reports have come in over the last decade or so claiming that many of these students from Andhra and Rajasthan have not been able to cope with the competition at the IITs and have buckled under pressure. Now that this new quota regulation has been impressed upon the NITs also, it is only going to dilute the quality of students and hamper the fast growing status of the former Regional Engineering Colleges(RECs).
I truly believe that the batch that was admitted last year into the NITs will be the most luckiest, since they are likely to be the last batch with the most diverse student population in their batch. As mentioned earlier, it has several advantages like bringing together people from all parts of the country. The bonding among students goes just beyond caste and religion. It is a period in their lives when we learn anything and everything. And being part of such a diverse group only enhances the cultural learning and brings to light the several values that people from various parts of the nation nourish and cherish.
I am sure that I echo the sentiments of many other students when it comes to all these matters because there is not a single student I know, who has spoken in support of this move by the government. Taking a closer peak at all this only makes me think more on the political lines. Why the hell is this ruling government taking atrocious steps with the sole aim of winning more votes for the upcoming elections! I believe I am very lucky to be out of the system before it was pushed down to such levels by the HRD ministry.
I started off writing this blog after reading the new quota system(SC/ST/OBC) being introduced in the IITs for the faculty. But I shall hold that topic for discussion on a later date. For now I think it is something we should all think about. Do we want this continuing to happen??
But soon all that is set to change, since from now on there shall be a 50% quota for the state in which the particular NIT resides and the remaining 50% shall be admitted through only on an All India Rank basis irrespective of which state the student hails from. Has the government not noticed or does it just choose not to notice that a majority of the top rank holders(AIR Top 1000) come from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and that this quota is only going to result in the loss of the great diversity that the NITs have been boasting of. What is even more funny is the case of NIT Warrangal, which is situated in Andhra Pradesh and hence will have a 50% quota for its students. The remaining 50% will also comprise mostly of students from the same state especially because it is the state which is able to produce the ranks. I guess simple math will result in NIT Warrangal effectively ending up with 100% state quota. This is not to say that the students from Andhra and Rajasthan who are performing well are are not worthy candidates, but I would like to stress that those students who are performing well in both their Board examinations and are able to cough up excellent ranks in these competitive entrance tests don't get their due.
A close look at the candidates from Andhra and Rajasthan will show you that more than 70% of them are at least a year or two older than the normal candidate and that they have been doing nothing else but prepare for these entrance tests after finishing their high school. This is what led to the IITs placing an upper cap on the number of attempts that people could give for the IIT JEE. Several reports have come in over the last decade or so claiming that many of these students from Andhra and Rajasthan have not been able to cope with the competition at the IITs and have buckled under pressure. Now that this new quota regulation has been impressed upon the NITs also, it is only going to dilute the quality of students and hamper the fast growing status of the former Regional Engineering Colleges(RECs).
I truly believe that the batch that was admitted last year into the NITs will be the most luckiest, since they are likely to be the last batch with the most diverse student population in their batch. As mentioned earlier, it has several advantages like bringing together people from all parts of the country. The bonding among students goes just beyond caste and religion. It is a period in their lives when we learn anything and everything. And being part of such a diverse group only enhances the cultural learning and brings to light the several values that people from various parts of the nation nourish and cherish.
I am sure that I echo the sentiments of many other students when it comes to all these matters because there is not a single student I know, who has spoken in support of this move by the government. Taking a closer peak at all this only makes me think more on the political lines. Why the hell is this ruling government taking atrocious steps with the sole aim of winning more votes for the upcoming elections! I believe I am very lucky to be out of the system before it was pushed down to such levels by the HRD ministry.
I started off writing this blog after reading the new quota system(SC/ST/OBC) being introduced in the IITs for the faculty. But I shall hold that topic for discussion on a later date. For now I think it is something we should all think about. Do we want this continuing to happen??
