New IITs Lack Quality Learning and Infra Parameters, CAG 2021 Report Exposes; Know Details Here

New Delhi: With the release of an audit by CAG 2021, the eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, (IITs) have been exposed to lack quality learning, efficiency, administrative and other infrastructure parameters.

The report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India was made on a performance audit of setting up of new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) which were established in 2008-09. The report has exposed the institute’s overall performance, which has fallen in various fields.

CAG 2021 Report looked into the overall activities of newly established eight IIT's namely, IIT Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna, and Ropar. The report was submitted by the Parliament during the winter session, which was held in December 2021.

According to the report, the institutes have faced infrastructure challenges, inadequate student to faculty ratio, lack of reserved category student representation in overall student enrollment, and insufficiency in research paper publications. 

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CAG 2021: SC, ST Representation Deficit in New IITs

As per the CAG 2021 report, the eight IITs failed to reach the stipulated cumulative intake of 2,360 students at the end of session 2013-2014. The admission data recorded less enrollment, especially reserved category students against the available seats in eight IITs. 

“As against the overall targeted intake of 18,880 students, only 6,224 students (33%) were admitted in all the eight IITs during the first six years. Further, it was observed that till 2018-19, only IITH (Hyderabad) was able to achieve the targeted student intake” the report reads.

As per the data shared for the 2014-19 session, as much as 28% of admission seats were found vacant for the IIT PG Course Admission process in five institutes. Only three IITs were able to take full annual intake for their Postgraduate program admission.

For session 2014-19, the IIT Bhubaneswar Ph.D. Course recorded about 80% of vacant admission seats while 64% of Ph.D. seats were found vacant in IIT Gandhinagar. 

Additionally, for IIT Hyderabad Ph.D. Course, the report recorded 17% of vacant admission seats between the session 2014-19. The poor enrollment performance of institutes was found due to the lack of infrastructure and education facilities at IITs. 

Comptroller and Auditor General of India, CAG highlighted in the report that IITs have recorded a lack of enrollment of reserved category students as per the reservation criteria. The enrollment number has decreased significantly for all reserved category students. 

At IIT Hyderabad, out of total reserved seats available for Scheduled Tribes (ST) students, only 27% of admission seats were taken, while the remaining 73% of Ph.D. seats remained unfilled for the admission session. 

Similarly, the poor representation of reserved category student intake was recorded during the IIT Jodhpur admission process, where 100% of reserved seats went vacant for scheduled caste students. 

The shortfall was significantly higher than 50% in all institutes, except in IIT Hyderabad and IIT Bhubaneswar, where the vacant admission seat data was found to be 25% and 28% respectively. 

Following the report, for other backward category students, IIT Gandhinagar recorded a shortfall of 37%. Additionally, over 36% of vacant seats at IIT Ropar, and 32% of vacant seats were found in IIT Mandi for admission enrollment. 

While talking about the low representation of reserved category students, IITGN said, “Despite adopting measures like waiver of tuition fee, peer group assisted learning, lower application fee, relaxations given during shortlisting and admission process, seats remain vacant because enough suitable candidates are not found.”

CAG Report: Dismal Scenario of Faculty-Student Ratio

Following the data shared for session 2014-2019, an inadequate faculty to student ratio was recorded in IITs in Bhubaneswar (IITBBS), Gandhinagar (IITGN), Hyderabad (IITH), Indore (IITI), Jodhpur (IITJ), Mandi, Patna (IITP) and IIT Ropar. 

The lack of faculty members in institutes affected the overall quality of teaching and increased the workload shared between them. Due to the dismal scenario of Faculty-Student ratio, the research activities, overall Institute development, and education quality were also affected significantly. 

While talking about faculty recruitment, IIT Bhubaneswar director Professor Raja Kumar stated that the institute is constantly making efforts to increase overall faculty to student ratio. However, the process can’t be rushed as the quality of education delivered will be affected. 

“We receive a large number of applications for faculty positions but the recruitment cannot be done overnight. We, at IIT, cannot compromise with the quality of faculty" he further added.

Adding to the statement, some of the institutes stated that the limited infrastructure and lack of faculty members was one of the major reasons for the decrease of intake capacity of students for Ph.D. Program Admission. 

In order to take more students and offer better education facilities on campus, the IITs will have to improve their overall infrastructure. 

CAG Report 2021: Infrastructure Challenges Faced by IITs

As per the report shared, the IITs, including Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Mandi, and Ropar have been facing issues regarding the allotment and transfer of lands. The issues further lead to insufficiency of infrastructure and required facilities on the campus ground. 

Keeping the issues in mind, the CAG has requested the Ministry to take the initiative to work with the respective state governments and allot land availability to IITs. The request was made due to the lack of infrastructure and land offered to the IITs. 

With these initiatives, the IITs will be able to improve their overall infrastructure design, land availability for the campus, and take steps towards upgrading on-campus educational facilities.

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CAG Report 2021: Not Enough Research Papers Published

In terms of research papers publication, IIT BBS in its response through the ministry said that it is “encouraging the faculty to carry out more research work and publish more research papers and as a result, the number of publications increased from year to year.”

As per the CAG Report 2021, the IITs lagged behind in the publication of research papers. The reason behind the lack of research work done at institutes was found to be less faculty member availability and insufficiency of education facilities. 

While talking about the research publications, IIT Bhubaneswar officials stated that the institute is encouraging the faculty members to carry out more research work. With the encouragement from institutes, the publications are expected to increase from year to year. 

About CAG Report 2021

The CAG 2021 Report is made by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India based on the overall data of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The report portrays the overall picture of the financial performances of institutes and other central public enterprises. 

The report is presented in front of Parliament by the President during various parliament sessions for enterprises working under the audit jurisdiction of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

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