Indian Institutes of Technology have seen 889 (about 9 per cent) students drop out in the 2016-17 academic year, according to latest data released by the ministry of human resources development (MHRD).

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Of these, nearly 71% (630) were PG students, 196 PhD scholars and 63 undergraduates. The total number of seats available were 9,885, of which 73 were not taken. In 2015-16, 656 students dropped out of the 23 IITs; this year marks an increase of 35% over that figure.

According to MHRD, "The main reason for PhD and postgraduate students leaving courses midway are offered for placement in public sector enterprises and personal preference for better opportunities elsewhere". Undergraduates left due to wrong choices made by them and poor performance, besides personal reasons.

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Fourteen of the 23 IITs have registered dropouts. The recently set up institutes — in Tirupati, Bhilai, Goa, Dharwad, Jammu and Dhanbad (formerly Indian School of Mines) — have no dropouts. Most dropouts (27%) were from IIT-Roorkee, followed by Delhi (20.6%), Kanpur (17.4%) and Kharagpur (10.6%).

35% faculty shortage

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The MHRD data also flagged another area of concern — shortage of faculty. As of July 17 this year, 35% of faculty posts in IITs remain vacant. Of the 13,012 sanctioned posts, over 4,500 remain vacant. The vacancy was 38% in 2016. To address the shortage, the ministry has decided to allow faculty working under central government or central autonomous bodies to join IITs. It also invites alumni, scientists, experts and foreign faculty to teach at IITs from time to time.

Deaths in 6 IITs

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Eight deaths were reported from six IITs during the academic year. Four of these deaths were unnatural and four accidental. Three unnatural deaths were reported from IIT-Kharagpur while one student committed suicide at IIT-Varanasi. IIT-Madras and Roorkee reported an accident each. One student from IITBhubaneswar died due to asphyxia caused by drowning in the sea while an IIT-Mandi student drowned in a river.