The Ministry of Education on Tuesday declared that relaxation would be provided in admission criteria for NITs and centrally funded technical institutions like IIITs by eliminating the requirement of 75 per cent marks in Class 12 board examinations.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ wrote on Twitter, "Considering the decision taken for IIT JEE (Advanced) and in line with the decision taken for the last academic year, it has been decided to waive off the 75% marks (in class 12 exam) eligibility criteria under Joint Entrance Examination (Main) for the next academic year 2021-2022 in respect of NITs, IIITs, SPAs and other CFTIs, whose admissions are based on JEE (Main)." 

This decision comes up soon after Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) decided to waive off 12th board performance criterion for admissions in the wake of COVID-19 Pandemic and disruption in the education scenario across the country. The official confirmation had been released by IITs regarding the removing admission criterion. 

Following which, the Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal made the official announcement on revised JEE Advanced 2021 eligibility criteria. During the interaction, the minister revealed that the 12th board criterion has been dropped for 2021 admissions and IIT should consider the JEE rank holders to just clear his/her board examination. 

Last year, the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) had relaxed norms for admissions into National Institute of Technology (NITs) and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) due to the outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic. 

According to the relaxation announced, candidates will seek admission in NITs for undergraduate courses based on their performance in Joint Entrance Exam-Mains (JEE-Mains). The varsity will waive off the class 12 board examination marks in the selection process. 

Previously, along with the performance in JEE-Main, NITs used to consider either 75 per cent mark in the board examinations or a place in the top 20 percentile under their respective boards.

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