When RTI changed the rules of the game

[sidmis]

It took an application filed by a visually impaired candidate under the Right to Information Act for the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) to finally disclose the criteria that they follow for selection of candidates for their postgraduate programme.

Vaishnavi Kasturi, a 22-year-old management student, scored a percentile of 89.29 in the Common Admission Test and was confident of getting selected by the IIMB, as the cut off for the disabled was a percentile of 86.42. When she did not get any intimation from the institute, she approached the authorities and wanted to know why she did not receive an interview call.

When the authorities refused to divulge their “trade secret”, Ms. Kasturi filed an application under the RTI Act.

The Karnataka State Information Commission ruled that since IIMB did not come under the State’s jurisdiction, the issue came under the purview of the Central Information Commission (CIC).

The CIC finally directed the institute to disclose the details of admission process by July 30. Accordingly, the IIMB released their “trade secret”.
The results of X and XII standard of a candidate accounts for 25 per cent of the score, while the bachelor’s degree accounts for 15 per cent.

Maximum weightage of 35 per cent is given to group discussion, group discussion summary and personal interview, while the remaining 5 per cent is for work experience and whether the candidate has taken any other professional course like accountancy.

To be called for the interview round, a candidate should be in the top 15 per cent scorers in each section of the CAT. Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and disabled applicants need to be in the top 50 per cent in the logic and quantitative sections and top 45 per cent in verbal section.

BANGALORE: Friday, Nov 16, 2007 Staff Reporter
The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : When RTI changed the rules of the game