As quota debate rages, IIM-A sets cut-off for CAT

To maintain standards in the wake of government plans for OBC quota, the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad has quietly introduced a minimum cut-off in the Common Admission Test (CAT) for students, depending on their category.

To maintain standards in the wake of government plans for OBC quota, the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad has quietly introduced a minimum cut-off in the Common Admission Test (CAT) for students, depending on their category.

It has the same cut-off for students in general and OBC categories but the cut-off for SC/ST and disabled candidates is a few notches lower: to be precise, 8 per cent lower than the general or OBC candidates. In the CAT-2006 bulletin, which was released last Sunday, the IIM-Ahmedabad has, for the first time, put a minimum cut-off for candidates. None of the other five IIMs have any such minimum cut-off.

The bulletin states: “Please note that the cut-off for shortlisting SC/ST/PWD (persons with disabilities) candidates for group discussion and personal interviews would not be less than 17 per cent score in each of the three sections of CAT 2006, and no less than 25 per cent score in aggregate.”

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“For other categories, it would be no less than 25 per cent in each of the three sections and no less than 33 per cent in aggregate.”

CAT is divided into three sections: English Usage, Quantitative Ability (Maths) and Data Interpretation & Logical Ability.

IIM-A Director Prof Bakul Dholakia told The Indian Express: “This has been done to ensure minimum qualifying performance in all three segments in the CAT. We need all-rounders.’’ He said this cut-off has been put in the public domain for the first time though it was followed in the internal admission process.

He confirmed that “other categories” would mean OBC and general categories, and both will be treated at par, for the “minimum cut-off”.

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The reason, he said: “SC/ST candidates are given 5 per cent relaxation in graduation marks, so they have been treated differently as against other categories for CAT as well.”

But the CAT bulletin states that “the actual cut-offs used for shortlisting, however, may be higher than the above-mentioned percentage scores and would depend on the performance of candidates in CAT-2006.”

IIM-A sources said the minimum cut-offs have been announced to rule out any situation of the institute being forced to admit a candidate who scores below this cut-off and there is a vacancy in that particular category.

“This will ensure that someone scoring lower than 17 per cent in each section in case of reserved categories and 25 per cent in case of OBC and general categories are not admitted,” the source said.

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“We know that the cut-offs will be much higher than these, as we select only the top 900 candidates out of 1.6 lakh. This is just to ensure that our minimum standards are not compromised, in case of increased student intake from the next academic year,” the source said.

On the OBC quota, the CAT bulletin says that the Government proposes to reserve seats for candidates belonging to OBCs from 2007-08 and details of reservation will be notified once an official communication comes from the appropriate authority. It has asked candidates to enclose a photocopy of their category, including OBC, and mark the category while filling the application form.