IIM Ahmedabad Announces Reservation In PhD Admissions From 2025

Ahmedabad: 

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has announced that it will implement reservation in its PhD admissions starting from the 2025 academic cycle, in line with Government of India guidelines. However, the institute has not provided specific details on how the reservation policy will be executed.

Earlier, IIMA had informed the Gujarat High Court that it was considering the introduction of reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and candidates with disabilities in its doctoral programmes from 2025 onwards. This statement was made in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2021 by Anil Wagde, a member of the Global IIM Alumni Network.

In the PIL, Wagde argued that the absence of reservation in PhD admissions violated constitutional provisions, the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, and norms laid down by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The indication of policy change was reflected in the official ‘PhD Admissions 2025’ notification published on IIMA’s website, which states that admissions will follow Government of India reservation guidelines. This has been widely interpreted as confirmation of the introduction of quota-based admissions from the upcoming academic year.

An official from IIMA’s media department also confirmed that a similar reference to reservation was included in the PhD admission announcements published in leading newspapers earlier this month.

According to the admission schedule, the deadline for submitting applications for the doctoral programme is January 20, 2025. Interviews for shortlisted candidates are expected to be conducted during March and April.