Six years after quota for women at IITs, changes are quite visible

FROM MORE HOSTELS and washrooms for female students to their own sports teams – a silent revolution has been taking shape at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) over the last six years, ever since a supernumerary quota of 20% was set aside for women.

- VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA & PALLAVI SMART

VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA & PALLAVI SMART NEW DELHI, ROORKEE, KANPUR, MUMBAI, JANUARY 5

The quota, under which extra seats were created instead of reserving them in the existing pool, was implemented in 2018 based on the recommendations of a committee led by then IIT-Mandi Director Timothy Gonsalves, which called it "the required slight push". While most IITs implemented a 14% quota for women in 2018-19, by 2019-20 it stood at 19% and by 2021-22, most of them had 20% seats for women.

Six years on, data obtained by The Indian Express under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from 21 of the 23 IITs reveals a steady increase in the number of women entering these prestigious institutes.

At IIT-Kanpur, the number of women rose from 908 women in 2017 to 2,124 in 2024 – a 133% jump. At IIT-Roorkee, the number went up from 1,489 in 2019-20 to 2,626 in 2024 – a 76.36% jump. IITs in Chennai, Mumbai, Guwahati and Kharagpur, too, saw similar increases.

According to the data, IITs Delhi and Bombay crossed the 20% threshold as early as 2017 – even before the quota was implemented. Of IIT Delhi's 2,878 students that year, 607 or 21.09% were women. In the first semester of 2024 at IIT Delhi, that number stood at 840 – a rise of 38.39%. In the case of IIT Bombay, of 2,790 students in 2017, 570 or 20.43% were women.

Meanwhile, IIT Kanpur was the last among the seven first-generation IITs to cross the 20% female enrolment mark, reaching the milestone only in 2021. Of its 7,716 students that year, 1,691 or 21.92% were women.