On Tuesday, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to IIM- Ahmedabad seeking implementation of reservation quota for SCs, STs, and OBCs in PhD admissions. The notice was issued in response to a petition filed by the Global IIM Alumni Network, which has demanded a stay on the admission process for the academic year 2023-24.
After the hearing, the high court has issued a notice demanding a response in three weeks. Further hearing in the case will take place on 15th November.
The institute has received flak in 2019 from a section of IIM alumni and staff, who have condemned IIM- Ahmedabad for violating the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 – according to which all central educational institutions must reserve seats for each course and branch of study.
According to a report by The Wire, in September 2017, the alumni had urged IIM Ahmedabad’s director to implement the reservation policy and also wrote to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the then President and Prime Minister of India, upon failing to get a response from the director.
The CERA Act provides for the reservation of students belonging to the SC, ST, OBC to the extent of 15 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively, in Central educational institutions.
Despite being a Central institution under the Act, IIM-A has not provided reservation for admission to its PhD programme. Of the 20 IIMs across the country, the reservation in the PhD course has been implemented in 12-15 IIMs.
