Due to social distancing in the hostels, the Indian Institutes of Technology have requested the Indian government for an extra year to fill in the seats allotted to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The IITs are seeking one year’s extension to the 2021 deadline set by the government to add new seats in order to accommodate the EWS quota, which accounts for 10% of the total number of seats.

The 23 IITs made the request together to the central government in May, in view of the lockdown that has been imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The MHRD will refer the request to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which had made the EWS quota proposal.

The student intake in the undergraduate, masters and research programmes offered by the IITs have to be collectively increased by around 6,700. Almost 2,300 seats were added in 2019, including 500 for B.Tech, and the remaining 4,400 seats were supposed to be added this year, which would include 1,500 seats for B.Tech.

The IITs have pointed out the delay being caused by the lockdown, which is affecting the construction of hostels.

Besides IITs, other institutions such as NITs, IIMs, central universities, IISERs and IIITs are also facing problems related to infrastructure; they have increased their overall strength by 25% over the last two years to ensure that the existing number of seats does not face any cuts.