IIT entry: I never said it, says Sibal

New Delhi: Media reports on the proposed fixing of marks for the entrance exam for Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were ‘baseless’, said Union minister for human resource development Kapil Sibal. Any such decision on the eligibility criteria for the IIT-JEE would not be taken by the government, he said.

“The eligibility criteria to appear in JEE is decided by IITs themselves. The Government of India has no role to play and any report which suggests there is a proposal to allow only those who obtain 80 per cent marks in their class 12 examination to sit for JEE is baseless," said Sibal today, while addressing journalists here.

He said this in response to reports that he had mooted a minimum of 80-85 per cent marks in Class 12 board exams for those wanting to take the entrance test for IITs after a meeting of the IIT Council yesterday.

"The only decision that has been taken by the IIT Council is that the IITs will submit a report in January 2010 to rationalise the JEE. It is entirely their decision to decide on the eligibility criteria. It is they who will consider what weightage is to be given to the 12 class examination," he said.

He said that the government has "no jurisdiction in the matter and the HRD ministry can in no way, either directly or indirectly, decide or make any proposal for a decision. It is they (IITs) who will decide whether marks or percentile should be the basis of admission ".

These reports had also created a stir among members of the Central Advisory Board of Education, which had approved several reforms suggested by the HRD ministry only a month earlier, as it was not consulted on this proposal. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he was opposed, for it would place students from the state at a disadvantage at the IIT entrance examinations.