New Delhi: The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have asked the Centre to extend the deadline to accommodate 10 per cent of students from the economically weaker sections (EWS) quota by a year. Earlier, the government had set the deadline for doing so to 2021.
The 23 premier institutes jointly appealed to the government that they could not stick to the deadline due to the present coronavirus lockdown. The IITs further said they will face challenges like close gathering of students and crowded hostels if they were to reopen now.
Following the plea, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry will forward it to the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry for its consideration, the Indian Express reported quoting government sources.
To accommodate the 10% students from the EWS quota, the IITs have to increase their seats for undergraduate courses. It would also entail an increase of approximately 6,700 seats in masters and research courses. As many as 500 seats were added in BTech last year. About 1,300 seats for BTech are expected to be added in this year’s session.