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Status 'quo'ta

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Education Bureau Mumbai
CAMPUS PLAY: The quota issue has acquired a new hue with the HRD ministry wanting institutions to implement the 27 per cent quota in a single phase while the Moily Committee members and IIM/IITs wanting it to be spread over a period of time.
 
The new reservation process, that covers all Central and institutions of higher learning like IITs and IIMs, entails a 54 per cent increase in seats to ensure that the 27 per cent quota for OBCs is implemented.
 
It is estimated that a total expenditure of over Rs 20,000 crore is needed to increase seats in the institutions of higher learning funded by the Centre.
 
The Supreme Court order restricts quota to 50 per cent. Since a 22.5 per cent reservation already exists for SC and ST students, the remaining works out to 27 per cent (the oft-quoted figure).
 
IIMs plan to increase the seats in phases "� by 220 from the next year against the required 955 seats according to the quota plan. In the first year, IIM-Ahmedabad plans to increase its intake by 34 seats, IIM-Bangalore by 35, IIM-Lucknow by 45, IIM-Calcutta by 18, IIM-Indore by 15 and NITIE-Mumbai by 57.
 
IIMs have also sought a non-recurring expenditure of Rs 500 crore to expand the infrastructure to accommodate the extra students. Besides, they have asked for an additional grant of Rs 50 crore each year.
 
All the IIMs have said they have difficulties finding enough teachers for the 54 per cent increase in seats. The report on medical colleges also talks of problems attracting good faculty for the pay offered. The HRD ministry reportedly does not allow IIMs to pay their faculty members more than what a secretary-rank official draws.
 
Hence, the monthly salary gets restricted in the range of Rs 15,000 for an assistant professor up to Rs 50,000 for an IIM director. Private tution, thus, is a preferred option to teaching at these institutions.
 
A senior professor from IIT Roorkee (who did not wish to be named) said: "We will need three to five years to bring the quota in place. We are thinking of going about it in a phased manner by allowing 18 per cent intake every year. Money thus would be required in phased manner over five years. We have made a rough estimate of Rs 750 crore to put the infrastructure in place. Space is also a constraint and we have approached the Uttaranchal government in this regard. The Saharanpur campus of IIT Roorkee would require an extension too. Moreover, IIT Roorkee faces the maximum shortage of faculty. At present, we have 340 faculty members and we would require another 500 to fulfil the quota requirements."
 
Committee Chairman Veerappa Moily has gone on record that the shortage of faculty can be tackled for instance by hiring retired people, by extending retirement age say to 65 years, by offering contractual appointment for five years and by extending again by five years. Nobody seems amused, though.
 
Besides, there's the issue of logistics. For instance, it took 20 years for IIM-A to get land, two years to plan and five years to implement its most recent expansion plan. IIM, Bangalore, maintains the OBC quota increase would require at least three years for implementation as well as Central assistance through increased funding. This view is corroborated by IIT, Roorkee and IIM-A too.
 
IIM-A, for instance, would need over Rs 100 crore while increasing its student intake. However, the institution "� which does not take grants from the government "� has a corpus of Rs 78 crore only. This amount does not take into account land.
 
Says Bakul Dholakia, Director, IIM-A "Considering the recommendations of increasing seat intake, we would need at least three to four years to put things in order. The institute is already facing a shortage of faculty and that aspect would have to be considered irrespective of the quota implementation. Despite the report's recommendation that the quota regime be implemented in toto, the institute will be able to increase only 34 seats this year."
 
Others are more circumspect in their remarks. Devi Singh, Director, IIM Lucknow, says: "The report is only submitted to the government. We have not heard anything formally from the government so far. However, we will require three-years to upgrade the infrastructure to implement the quota. We had decided that both our campuses "� Lucknow and Noida "� will have 700 students during the next academic year and we will go ahead with that decision. We have ample space as far as land is concerned but we will need to add 45 faculty members against the current strength of 60 members."
 
The hurdles notwithstanding, IIT/IIMs can only take hope in the assurance of Moily to this paper that "Our duty is not merely to fill potholes. Our job is not that of merely finding an expedient solution. We are taking this opportunity to transform higher education in the country and to allow autobahns of knowledge society."

 
 

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First Published: Aug 02 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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