Over 10,000 seats in IITs and 8,700 in NITs remained vacant in the last 2 years: Union Education Minister.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said more than 10,000 seats remained vacant in various courses in various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) while over 8,700 seats remained vacant in National Institutes of Technology (NITs) during the last two years.

Union Education Minister gave this information in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. According to the data, 5,484 seats remained vacant in IITs in 2020-21. Of these, 476 seats were vacant in undergraduate courses (B. Tech), 3,229 seats in post-graduate courses and 1,779 in PhD courses.

The number of vacant seats in IITs in 2021-22 was 5,296, which is slightly less than last year. Of these, 361 seats remained vacant in B. Tech courses, 3,083 in postgraduate courses and 1,852 in PhD courses.

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In NITs, the data showed, while 3,741 seats were vacant in various courses in 2020-21, the number rose to 5,012 in 2021-22. Of these, maximum seats in postgraduate courses remain vacant at 2,487 in 2020-21 and 3,413 in 2021-22.

“Prominent engineering colleges like IITs, NITs and IIITs provide education and research in science and technology subjects and are classified as institutions of national importance.

Admission to various programs in these institutes is granted on the basis of ranking/other parameters only to the deserving candidates, who satisfy the required eligibility criteria,” the minister said.