73 IIT-Roorkee students expelled due to low scores in exams

What could be termed as an unexpected action taken by any IIT till now, the institute at Roorkee has expelled 73 students for faring badly in the first year B Tech programme, who scored less than a 5 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) in their exams.

A similar case had happened in IIT Kharagpur when around 20 students were expelled due to their poor performance in the undergraduate exams. The director, however, overturned the decision to expel the students and re-admitted them.

Though the parents sign a declaration at the beginning of the year stating that poor performance of their kid could result in their expulsion, the incident in IIT Roorkee is the first of its kind. Students have been expelled from IITs but taken back, except in one instance each in IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur.

The students of IIT-Roorkee were given a warning in May to work harder after the second semester exams, after which they filed a mercy appeal. The HRD Ministry maintained silence over the matter since it considers IITs to be autonomous bodies governed by their own rules and regulations.

Since parents of the students had already signed an agreement saying the students could be expelled for poor performance, these students are now left with no recourse.

A meeting of senior officials, including the director and heads of departments was conducted in order to review the expulsion of the students. The meeting, which went on till 8 in the evening, came to the conclusion that there would be no change in the decision taken by the academic senate and 73 students will be expelled.