IITs and NITs to admit the candidates through common counselling from 2015-16 session

As per the new directions of the Delhi High Court, the government is set to introduce common counselling for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) from the coming academic session 2015-16. A committee was also constituted by the HRD ministry to resolve the issue of common counselling. The committee also recommended the government to introduce the common counselling for admission to IITs and NITs. The technical committee was constituted to sort out the process flow differences between IITs and NITs counselling has inter-alia recommended for joint seat allocation process which is likely to be started from the academic year 2015-16. The decision to adopt common counselling for IITs and NITs has also been accepted by the council of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT).

The Delhi high court had directed the ministry to resolve the issue of common counselling after public interest litigation (PIL) by an IIT professor Rajeev Kumar. In the PIL, the issue of seats in IITs and NITs across the country remaining vacant in successive academic sessions was brought to the High Court. IIT professor Rajeev Kumar in 2010 also alleged discrepancies, irregularities in the joint entrance examination conducted by IITs.

In the past there have been cases of students getting seats in an IIT and also NITs in a popular course. Such students hold on to both the seats for a long time and switch only in the end, leaving many seats vacant. Last year more than 200 seats in IITs were left vacant.