Nitish urges Sibal to reconsider new criterion for IIT-JEE

In a letter faxed to Sibal today, Kumar said, "Such proposals will favour students with elite background and discriminate against students with poor socio-economic status. Any examination system should be inclusive. Any change in the existing examination system will have far reaching consequences, which is unwarranted."

Sibal had yesterday mooted a new proposal, whereby a student would have to secure at least 80 per cent marks in the class 12 Board examinations as compared to the present requirement of 60 per cent for sitting in the IIT-JEE test.

Requesting Sibal to reconsider the proposed change in the existing examination system, the chief minister said students from backward regions of the country would be the most affected by the new proposal.

"In the existing system, larger pool of students with different socio-economic background are able to appear in the entrance examination. This explains better performance of students from backward regions in the IIT examination," he added.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad also opposed the move and described it as a "wrong step".
"The proposal has been brought under a conspiracy to deny entry of the students coming from poor and deprived backgrounds into the IIT," he said.

"We strongly oppose it and I will personally take up the issue with Sibal," he added. When contacted, Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed refused to comment, saying he did not have any details about what the HRD minister had proposed.