New Delhi:
The government's 'one nation, one test' format for admission into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is raising many voices of dissent. The decision of the IIT Kanpur Senate on Friday to conduct its own entrance examination in 2013 has taken the fight between the nation's premier engineering institutions and the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry to another level.
The IIT Delhi alumni, which had threatened to sue HRD minister Kapil Sibal over the decision to conduct a common entrance test, will file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) next week. Somanth Bharti, the head of the alumni body says, "The PIL seeks to restore the autonomy of the IITs." The alumni association is among few other associations which are against the decision of the minister.
The IIT Delhi Senate, due to meet on June 21, is likely to discuss the IIT Kanpur Senate's decision to hold its own entrance exam and endorse it. This would make it the second Senate body to take the bold step. Professor Sanjeev Sanghi, president of the IIT Delhi Faculty Forum said, "There is a strong possibility of the IIT Delhi Senate going with the decision of the Kanpur Senate."
The issue of the new entrance format has many divided. Co-founder of Infosys and Chairman of the Manipal Education Services Pvt Ltd, Mohandas Pai, said, "The IITs should have greater autonomy and the government should not interfere with the academic content of the institution." Mr Pai, though, is of the belief that the IITs need to be expanded in order to enable the enrolment of more students. He also said that more time needed to be spent to evolve on a consensus on the issue of the new test format. "The minister said there is a consensus but there isn't one. So he should meet with everyone concerned in the next one month and then arrive at one".
Mr Sibal is currently in the US and was unavailable for comment.