Do as you wish because you think no one is watching

This year IIMC selected only 8.5% OBC students for the PGDM program as opposed to the declaration of 27% announced post discussion with MHRD couple of years back (detailed out in http://www.iimcal.ac.in/iimc-cat-inf.pdf). Many deserving candidates, falling under this category, anticipating call from IIMC were left disappointed. One of the candidates filed an RTI against IIMC seeking explanation as to why quota of 27% for OBC was not reached. The RTI response can be seen on
Rohit's blog

As the RTI response points out there were total of 408 seats (241 general seats i.e 59% , 74 OBC seats i.e 18 % , 62 SC seats i.e 15 %and 31 ST seats i.e 7.6 %) in the previous year, while this time there were 375 seats (232 general seats i.e 62 %, 48 OBC seats i.e 12.8 %, 56 SC seats i.e 15 % and 28 ST seats i.e 7.5 %). In response, IIMC replied that due to lack of adequate infrastructure these decisions were made. Even if the reason is to be believed, no document stating why only OBC selection was reduced to 8.5%. The number of general seats were unchanged since there is a SC directive for the same. As per the SC's order, the number of general seats shall not decrease when compared to the base year (which I think was 2008-2009), is what the directive was.

Another issue is regarding the correctness of the RTI response. As per the response, they have admitted 48 OBC candidates while the actual number of OBC candidates admitted are only 39. We can ourselves check if the number 39 is correct by checking these urls - 29 OBC students admitted to the PGDM and 10 OBC candidates admitted to the PGDCM program on IIM Calcutta's website.

Even if there were internal concerns in expanding the infrastructure, Who is responsible for the delay in setting up the infrastructure? Why was the number of seats reduced this year as compared to last year? At least they were on the path to full implementation of OBC seats (3 % in the base year, 18 % in the last year but now 8.5 %). Why did take a step back? Additionally, no such information was shared with the candidates prior to their interview. Such ignorance on the part of premier management institute demands logical explanation and measures which shall be taken to avoid such confusion.

Another issue is that they have called 409 OBC students for GDPI and selected only 48. Albeit the number of OBC candidates selected including both the programs is 29+10 = 39 (another big inconsistency in RTI!! ) which dilutes case of people with high percentile and shows that they were more "selective" about OBC guys.

If you have any suggestions on how should this issue be pursued, please let us know by your comments here on this blog or on Rohit's blog or mail us at vikrampg@gmail.com or rohitesh.gupta@gmail.com. We are looking for a lawyer, a journalist or an RTI activist who could assist us in following up on this issue. Please let us know if you know one of them. Additionally, we were thinking if this issue can be filed as a PIL. If you know more about PILs and related procedures, please let us know.

Relevant Links:-

http://www.indiaedunews.net/IIM/IIM-Calcutta_hikes_fees_by_50_percent,_intake_reduced_11171/

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/OBC-reservation-in-institutions-to-spread-over-six-years/articleshow/5654132.cms