1.91 lakh appear for CAT

A total of 1.91 lakh students today appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted in 23 cities across the country for admission to the presitigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top business schools.

The figure marked an increase of about 21,000 over the number of students who sat for the test last year, despite a change in the eligibility criteria. The number of questions this year was reduced from 90 to 75 while additional time of 30 minutes was allotted. Earlier, CAT was a two-hour exam.

Students, who sat for the test, described the question paper as moderate. The candidates included 22,000 from OBCs and about 12,500 from SC-ST categories.

A new eligibility criteria for the test states that the students in the general category need to secure 50 per cent marks and their counterparts in the reserved categories have to secure 45 per cent marks during graduation.

The large number of candidates are competing for 1,350 seats in the six IIMs, which are expected to be increased in view of the Oversight Committee's report recommending a hike in the capacity of central educational institutions by 54 per cent in a phased manner over the next three years.

Nearly 33,000 students, about 15 per cent more than the number of candidates last year, sat for the test, conducted at 33 centres, in Delhi.

The Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow was in-charge of conducting the test in Delhi and Lucknow. IIM-Lucknow Director Devi Singh, who was in Delhi for the last few days to supervise the examination, said the test went off well without any hindrance.

"The exam was conducted in a peaceful manner in 33 centres across the city. We deputed one professor for each centre to ensure smooth conduct of the test. No problem was reported by any student pertaining to examination or the question paper," he said.

"We had sought help from police and adequate security arrangements were made," he said.

The exam was conducted at 12 centres in Lucknow.About 6,500 students took the exam at 11 centres in Gujarat amidst tight security, IIM-Ahmedabad officials said.