The number of students qualified to sit for counselling to get admission for 9,647 seats in 15 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country from the Madras zone has increased by 540 this year.
According to the statistics provided by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, which conducted the joint entrance examination (JEE) this year, of 19,426 students who got qualified for counselling this year, 3,666 are from the Madras zone, which comprises Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Last year 3,126 students had cleared JEE from the same zone among 13,602 candidates.
This year 1,50,431 girls appeared for JEE of which 2,886 secured ranks and first 1,908 have been shortlisted for counselling.
Last year 1,08,647 girls appeared and 1,491 had qualified for counselling.
Besides this year the number of students who qualified for counselling too increased substantially by 3,860.
The number of OBC candidates who got shortlisted for counselling across the country too has doubled with 4,805 candidates clearing JEE this year, whereas the number of physically disabled candidates entering IIT has come down by 273 with just 167 students called for counselling and 124 qualified for the preparatory course.
This year too there is no SC and ST preparatory list as the number of successful SC and ST candidates is more than the available in the respective categories.
Join CBSE to enter IITs, say toppers
Several JEE toppers from Chennai studied in matriculation schools up to class X but shifted to CBSE after that as they believe Tamil Nadu Board students find it tough to enter IITs.
Vaishak R., who stood first in the state and 36th all-India among 4.8 lakh students, said: “I studied in a private matriculation school in the city from classes I to X but opted for CBSE later.
” He plans to join electrical engineering in IIT Bombay as he feels that could provide him more opportunities for research.
Nannan A.V., son of an officer at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, scored 329 of 401 marks and secured 80th rank overall.
He said he studied at Atomic Energy Central School in Kalpakkam, which is affiliated to CBSE but only for classes up to X was available in the school.
As such, he shifted to another school in the city for classes XI and XII that is affiliated to CBSE throughout.
He said IIT syllabus was central board-oriented, wh-ich made it difficult for state board students to get admission to the premier institutes. “I am looking at joining IIT Bombay or Madras to study electronics and robotics,” he said.