In
October, the JEE (Advanced) conducting authorities released a set of data
reports on the final results of the JEE (Advanced) and its previous avatars,
from 2011 onwards. In this set of analysis of these reports, we will discuss
individual elements of the reports and how they are shaping up for you.

In this part of the analysis, we cover the details about the
seats that went vacant in 2015. Across all IITs, there was a net vacancy of 32
seats – 9974 seats out of the available 10,006 seats were filled. However, this
number of 32 seats does not reveal the complete picture.

At the end of Round 1 of JoSAA allocations, 608 seats from the allotted 10,006 were not accepted. These were allotted in Round 2, and 130 of these went vacant. These 130 were allotted in Round 3, and 50 seats from them were not accepted. Since Round 4 was for seat allotment to Preparatory Courses only, these 50 seats went vacant at the end.

The bulk of these 50 seats were left empty at IIT (BHU)
Varanasi – 28 seats, to be exact. ISM Dhanbad came a distant 2nd
with 11 seats left empty. The rest of the vacancies were distributed amongst
the IITs at Kharagpur, Madras, Palakkad, Gandhinagar, and Indore.

However, the final numbers do not reflect 50 vacancies, only
32. Why this discrepancy? This can be explained by the fact that in some IITs,
the number of seats allotted was more than the available seats. These 18 supernumerary
seats, when added to the total, do their bit to reduce the total number of
vacancies.

Even at the institute level, they help reduce the difference
between the available and allotted seats. For example, IIT Kharagpur had 1341
seats available, of which 3 seats went vacant, as seen above. However, in courses
other than those where the seats went vacant, 3 seats more than those available
were allotted, due to which IIT Kharagpur had a net difference of zero between
the available and allotted seats.

When looking at the complete picture, 5 institutes have
vacant seats, 7 institutes have excess seats, with the remaining institutes
having a net balance of zero. The difference in 10 of these institute is just
1-2 seats in excess/vacant. The only two institutes with large deviation are
IIT (BHU) Varanasi (27 vacant seats) and ISM Dhanbad (10 vacant seats).

23 of IIT (BHU) Varanasi’s 28 vacant seats are due to just two
courses: the 4 year B. Pharm. and the 5 year Dual Degree in Pharmaceutics.
Whether it is the course that students do not like or if it is another reason,
the IITs have to identify why students are not willing to join this vertical,
leaving seats vacant when others would have been willing to join.