.BERRYBEAT.

An AICTE seal costs a bribe. A UGC listing costs another. What it buys the student is real — the education behind it often isn't.

Every year, nearly 1.9 million students compete in the JEE Mains exam, aiming for a coveted seat in one of India’s Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Yet, fewer than 18,000 students make it to an IIT classroom, reflecting an acceptance rate barely above one percent. This extraordinary selectivity has shaped the IIT brand into a symbol of academic prestige, not because of what is taught inside the campuses, but because of who gets admitted. But does this intense filtering