Controversy related to national entrance test for engineering courses refuses to settle as several state governments on Tuesday strongly opposed Centre’s proposal to allow flexibility to IITs in the entrance examination.
Led by Bihar, education ministers from several states expressed their reservation to the special treatment being given to the IITs, in which they can adopt a separate methodology for selection and admission of students, over NITs, IIITs and other engineering institutes.
Sources stated that West Bengal, which has a UPA ally Trinamul Congress government, did not send their representatives to the meeting. Tuesday’s opposition comes after IIT Alumni Association has threatened to file PILs in various high courts against the entrance examination.
Facing strong opposition, Union human resource development minister agreed to incorporate the views of opposing states in the minutes of the meeting that said 'the states were of the opinion that IITs should also adopt the same format as that for IIITs and NITs'. He, however, was non-committal on accepting the states’ demand and said that the IITs were governed by a separate act.
Opposing the preferential treatment to IITs, Bihar’s education minister P.K. Shahi asked as to “Why IITs had been permitted to operate on a different sphere?” “They are receiving public funding. We aren’t encroaching on their independence to operate or in their academic spheres, so why this separate treatment?” he asked.
The one-day conference also saw opposition from Congress-ruled Kerala, Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh, to the Centre’s proposal for a common entrance test for all engineering institutions.
Several states also demanded clarification regarding admission process to colleges under state governments, along with the tests for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs.
Speaking at the concluding session, HRD minister Kapil Sibal, tried to pacify the opposition and clarified that IITs have been provided till 2015 to join the new examination system. The minister claimed that the overwhelming opinion of the states was in support of the common entrance test.
“There is a flexibility to the states which are under no compulsion to join the common entrance test for institutes under their jurisdiction,” Mr Sibal said.