IIT agrees to bare JEE marks, but only just

Insists On Hard Copy That Makes Detecting Anomalies ‘Impossible’ Manoj Mitta | TNN New Delhi: Stung by the exposure of admission anomalies in recent years, the IIT system has come up with an innovative method of blocking transparency even as it agreed to give data under RTI on the marks obtained by the four lakh candidates in this year’s joint entrance examination (JEE). It insisted on giving the data only in the hard copy running into hundreds of thousands of pages rather than in the more convenient form of a CD. The information seeker, Rajeev Kumar, a computer science professor in IIT Kharagpur, is crying foul. For, the hard copy would not only result in a steep increase in the cost of information (running into six figures) but also make it almost impossible for him to detect irregularities in the latest JEE as he did in the three previous ones by analyzing the electronic data that had then by given to him under RTI. As a result of this change in the strategy of the IIT system, central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi fixed a hearing for November 6 specially to resolve this soft vs hard debate. The hearing follows the unusual reasons given by Gautam Barua, director of IIT Guwahati and overall incharge of JEE 2009, for his failure to comply with the CIC’s disclosure direction passed on July 30. In his first mail to CIC on October 2, Barua said that as there were a number of RTI applications seeking the CD, “we are apprehensive that this request for electronic data is to profit from it by using it for IIT JEE coaching purposes (planning, targeting particular cities, population segments, etc).” The reference to the coaching institutes is reminiscent of the recent controversy over the move to raise the bar on 12th class marks to be eligible for IIT selection. Asserting that IITs had “nothing to hide regarding the results”, Barua said “we are ready to show the running of the software with the original data to the CIC, if it so desires.” As a corollary, Barua made an issue of the fact that Kumar “has not asked to see the data, but he wants an electronic version delivered to him. Why is this so?” Faculty to accept new pay structure The stand-off between the IIT faculty and the government over the “anomalies” in pay structure finally ended on Saturday with the teachers’ body deciding to accept the new package in the “interest” of the institutes, but maintained that concerns still remain. The All India IIT Faculty Federation asked the teachers of the seven IITs to agree to the new pay structure. “We have requested the faculty to accept the pay package in the interest of the IIT system. But we will pursue with the HRD ministry and the board of governors of the IITs on certain issues till they are resolved,” federation president M Thenmozhi said. AGENCIES