The announcement of a common entrance exam for all engineering colleges that receive funding from the central government, by the Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, has not gone well with a few. The faculty of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) which has 16 branches across the country were upset by the Minister's decision. The minister said it is an 'unanimous decision', however it does not look like so, as on Thursday in Delhi.

Mr Sibal informed that the governing bodies of IIT, the National Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IITS) had been consulted over the decision. Though the managements have principally agreed over the issue, some faculty and especially the powerful alumni association are strongly disagreeing with the issue. They are even seriously contemplating over taking up the issue legally, say sources. As the dissenting members feel that the present ruling is violating the principles of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, which provides the blueprint for these colleges and lists them as 'institutions of national importance.'

As per sources, the dissent IIT faculty have written an official letter to the Prime Minister to intervene and correct what they describe as a "unilateral decision" that by-passes the autonomy of the IITs. As per the recent announcement, students will be saved of the hassle to a plethora engineering entrance tests and just end up with one exam. If everything goes well from 2013 there will be a common entrance instead of an AIEEE, IIT JEE, etc.   (With Inputs from Internet- Aarkay)