IIT Makes Room For ST Candidate After P

New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur today created an 'additional seat' to let an aspirant take a preparatory course before embarking on its under-graduate programme, the Human Resource Development Ministry said today.

The IIT move followed an exhortion from Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh to consider Balram Tudu's plight sympathetically, an HRD Ministry statement said.

A Scheduled Tribe candidate, Tudu was to have taken part in counselling-- part of the admission process-- in July, but never got postal communication sent to him by the IIT, the statement said.

A year-long preparatory course is offered to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe aspirants who do not qualify in the first attempt. After completing the preparatory course, they can be enrolled in the first year. Tudu had qualified for this course, the statement said.

Authorities try to accommodate SC/ST candidates at reduced cut-off percentage-- but even then some vacancies remain unfilled, it said.

To fill such vacancies in the subsequent academic year, a Preparatory Course is offered to SC/ST candidates with further reduced cut-off, the statement said.

These students undergo the Preparatory Course of one year and On successfully completing the course with prescribed minimum benchmarks they are admitted to the first year, it said.

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