No decision on exempting IITs from faculty reservation: Education Minister

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced that the government has not taken any decision yet on a panel’s recommendations that the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) should be exempted from reservations in faculty appointments.  The announcement was done in Parliament on Thursday.

The committee has already submitted its report last June and which was circulated to all the ministries concerned and their comments have been received, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. 

Mr. Pokhriyal also that “the government has not yet taken a decision on the recommendations of the committee,”. An eight-member committee comprising IIT directors was asked to suggest measures on effective implementation of reservation policies not only in recruitment but also for admissions.

The panel said that the IITs should be exempted from reservations because they were “institutes of national importance and are involved in research”. The committee had also noted that the expectations of the faculty from the IITs were very high due to the quality and standards of education, and rather than specific quotas, diversity issues should be addressed through outreach campaigns and targeted recruitment of faculty.