IIIT decision to limit Odisha students’ quota to 50% irks many

Bhubaneswar, Apr 27:

The decision of the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bhubaneswar to reserve only 50% of its seats for students from Odisha, has come as a big let-down for those who expected the institute to offer greater space and opportunities to the students of the state.

This decision to limit the reservation for Odisha students to just 50% has been communicated by the director of IIIT director Prof Gopal Krushna Patnaik in a letter to Odisha JEE Secretary Priyabrat Sahu, sources said. The letter also says that the 50% quota would be applicable to the BTech course for the 2014-15 academic session and extended to only those who have appeared at the OJEE-Main exam.

The letter has stated that from 2015, IIIT will conduct its own qualifying examinations and counselling for admissions and would prepare a list of Odisha students, on the basis of merit, to fill the 50% quota of seats. It has advised the JEE not to include IIIT in its list of colleges from next year

Many students and parents have reacted sharply against the move and said an institution which is based in Odisha and was accorded the status of a unitary university in January 2014 after the passage of a bill in the Odisha Assembly should increase the quota for students of the state.

Lipina Samantaray, a Plus 2 student, blamed the state government for not putting pressure on the Bhubaneswar-based Institute to increase the quota to at least 70% for Odisha students

Presently the institute has 240 seats available for the BTech courses in Computer Science and Engineering (60 seats), Information Technology (60), Electronics and Telecommunication (60) and Electrical and Electronic Engineering (60).