New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) More than 92 percent of Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates who were called for counselling prior to admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) failed to prove their non-creamy layer status to avail the benefit of reservation. According to official sources, only 638 out of a total 8,650 OBC candidates called for the counselling at the seven IITs could prove their non-creamy layer status — made mandatory by the Supreme Court for those availing the benefit of OBC reservation.

This means that only 7.5 percent of the OBC candidates could avail the benefit of reservation in the counselling held recently. This year, 654 seats across the 13 IITs in the country have been reserved for OBC candidates.

The ceiling on the annual income for non-creamy candidates, according to the government, is Rs.250,000.

Of the total 311,250 students who appeared for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE-2008) for admission to seven IITs, 72,000 were OBC candidates.

The IITs had short-listed 1,130 OBC candidates of the total 8,650 candidates who had qualified for the 6,872 seats available in the IITs. However, only 1,024 OBC candidates came for the counselling process. And many of these candidates could not establish their non-creamy layer status, said an official.

Each of the existing seven IITs will rollout 9 percent OBC reservation this year while the six new IITs will implement full 27 percent OBC reservation from this year. In three years, all IITs will roll out the full 27 percent quota for OBC candidates.

The IITs are implementing the OBC reservation for the first time.