New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI) Over 10,000 seats across different courses remained vacant in various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) during the last two years, while over 8,700 seats were vacant in National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.

Pradhan gave the information in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

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According to the data, 5,484 seats remained unfilled in IITs in 2020-21. Of them, 476 seats were vacant in undergraduate courses (BTech), 3,229 seats in postgraduate courses, and 1,779 in PhD courses.

In 2021-22, the number of vacant seats in IITs were 5,296, slightly lower than the previous year. Of them, 361 seats remained vacant in BTech courses, 3,083 in postgraduate courses and 1,852 in PhD courses.

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In NITs, the data showed, while 3,741 seats across various courses were vacant in 2020-21, the number further increased to 5,012 in 2021-22. Of them, maximum seats remain unfilled in postgraduate courses i.e. 2,487 in 2020-21 and 3, 413 in 2021-22.

"The premier engineering colleges like IITs, NITs and IIITs impart education and research in science and technology subjects and are categorised as Institutions of National Importance. The admission to various programmes in these institutions are strictly offered only to deserving candidates based on the ranking/ other parameters, who fulfil the required eligibility criteria," the minister said.

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