AUGUST 02, 2018 10:47 IST
UPDATED: AUGUST 03, 2018 12:37 IST
RAJYA SABHA | 12:30 PM
Why is there a fall in the number of students who passed the IIT-JEE?
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar says a new cut-off was calculated so that reserved seats are filled-up. We have also increased the seats by 1000 this year, he adds.
What are the steps being taken to enroll more SC/ST students in IIT, asks an AIADMK member.
Mr. Javadekar says only over 100 seats are not filled and it is unfortunate that many people are not opting for agricultural engineering.
Vijila Sathyananth (AIADMK) asks about suicides in IITs. Is caste discrimination a reason for such suicides, she asks.
Mr. Javadekar says there is another discrimination in IITS, gender. Due to super numeric quota 840 girls made it to engineering in IIT. We have started a 12-point programme that includes a two-week induction programme so that students get to mingle with each other. We have introduced schemes like mentoring, local parenting and counselling, he adds.
