The All India IIT Faculty Federation (AIIITFF) representatives will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to apprise him of the situation arising out of the government's announcement to hold a joint entrance examination for all engineering undergraduate courses, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
The AIITFF and the IIT Delhi Alumni Association are strongly opposing the new admission test to all Central engineering institutes to be implemented from 2013 saying it infringed upon the autonomy of the IITs and would bring down the standard of education.
Prior to their meeting with Dr. Singh on Friday, the Faculty Federation will meet senior officers at the Prime Minister's Office, sources in the Federation told
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The Delhi Alumni Association, which has threatened to move court against the Centre's proposal, said it “is a very positive development” and expressed the hope that something would come out of the meeting to protect the IITs' independent academic entity. It also sought a separate audience with Dr. Singh.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal had on Tuesday virtually ruled out going back on the Centre's proposal but said he was willing to address the issues raised by the faculty and alumni through discussion.
The AIIITFF wrote to the Prime Minister on May 30 saying that “each IIT is an individual and independent academic entity and should reserve its right to follow its own norms with regard to admissions and other academic matter.”
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Seeking the Prime Minister's intervention, it said the IIT system should be preserved not only as per the provisions of the Acts but also beyond them.
The IIT Kanpur senate announced a separate entrance examination while IIT Delhi also sought convening of the senate meeting to follow suit. Other IIT senates will also decide on the new test by the end of this month.