Candidates securing below 75 % in the Class-12 examinations may soon be ineligible to secure admission in the National Institutes of Technology, irrespective of their JEE (Mains) scores.
For Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes’ candidates, there will be some relaxation, with the cut-off for eligibility being 70 %.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has recommended that the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) make this change in the eligibility criteria for admission to the NITs, an official told The Hindu .
It is now up to the CSAB to take a final call on this, though the body – which is responsible for seat allocation for the NITs – is known to go by the government’s advice.
The 31 NITs – next in line of prestige after the IITs in technical education – offer admission to about 18,000 students each year at present, which is higher than the 10,000 students the IITs admit at present.
At present, the eligibility criterion for admission to the IITs is 75 % in Class-12 for general and OBC candidates and 70 % for SC/ST candidates, irrespective of JEE scores and resultant all-India rank.
Uniform criteriaThe government’s recommendation is to have the same minimum eligibility criteria for the NITs, with 75 % and 70 % proposed as general and SC/ST cut-offs, respectively. At present, the minimum eligibility criterion for admission to NITs is 70 % for general candidates and 65 % for SCs and STs, the official said.
About 12-13 lakh students appear for the JEE Mains at present, of which just 2-lakh are eligible to appear for the JEE Advanced.
