1500 IIT Alumni sign petition against reservation
By Kim
 
The alumni of the premier Indian Institutes of Technology have begun an online petition to oppose the Indian government's move to implement 50 per cent reservation in the recruitment of faculty for the IITs. Reservation, they say, will erode the quality of these world class institutions and discourage people from joining.  IITs attract some of the brightest students in India, and their alumni are credited for setting up much of the tech industry in India.
 
The petition, which can be accessed at petitiononline.com, follows a candlelight protest by IIT students, teachers and alumni opposing the June 9 government order asking all IITs to reserve 15 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 27 per cent teaching positions for SC, ST and OBC categories respectively.
 
"We have started an online petition and urge students, faculty and alumni to sign up to protest the implementation of quota in teaching positions at IITs," said Abhijith Jayanthi, a fourth-year student of electrical engineering at IIT Delhi.
 
The alumni, faculty and students had also protested earlier on Sunday, with a candlelight march across three campuses of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
 
"People who are really talented will get through irrespective of quota because we have so many vacancies and few people," said a professor on conditions of anonymity.
 
At present IIT Delhi has an 8 per cent deficit in faculty recruitment.
 
"The Supreme Court guidelines say that a graduate cannot be considered a backward. Then how can a PhD holder be considered backward," said Jayanthi. "The government is actually violating the SC order," he said.
 
Faculty and students also fear that fall in standards will discourage good people from joining IITs.
 
"Despite better opportunities and pay scales, people come to teach at the IITs because of the excellent academic environment and quality of students and colleagues. Reservation will strike at the very root of this motivation," the professor said.
 
Presently, IITs have reservations for backward category candidates only in administrative posts, from attendants to the level of deputy registrar.

Techgoss note:  You can see the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/iitprtst/petition.html