LLB, BEd in Maharashtra to get 10% EWS quota, without additional seats

While introducing the EWS quota in January, the Centre had said it would be applied over and above the existing quotas for scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), other backward castes (OBC) and general category.

The government has decided to reserve 10% seats for students from the economically weaker section (EWS) in all law and teacher-training colleges across the state this academic year, even without extra seats being added in these institutes to accommodate them.

(Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

According to officials, the state decided on this move because the apex bodies for these courses — Bar Council of India (BCI) and National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) — are still mulling over increasing the intake in colleges across India.

“It’s up to the apex bodies to increase the seats. But they obviously can’t do it all of a sudden as they have to consider certain measures [to decide the intake]. Since they have not increased the intake yet, we will provide reservation in the existing seats,” said an official from the state higher and technical education department. “It won’t be much of an issue in this case.”

However, BCI said it is not concerned with the implementation of reservation quotas. “It’s for the state government to decide on how many seats should be available at the colleges. We are only responsible for the curriculum and other policy decisions,” said Satish Deshmukh, vice chairman, BCI.

If implemented, it will leave fewer seats for general-category students aspiring for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree.

In May, the Supreme Court (SC) had ruled against the Maharashtra government implementing the EWS reservation in postgraduate (PG) medical and dental courses, as the Medical Council of India (MCI) had not increased the seat intake in colleges. The court ruled that unless the number of seats available in the medical and dental colleges are increased, the state cannot apply EWS quota to them.

While introducing the EWS quota in January, the Centre had said it would be applied over and above the existing quotas for scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), other backward castes (OBC) and general category.

While All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) — the apex body for engineering, pharmacy, management and architecture courses — and MCI have increased intake for their respective courses across the country, BCI and NCTE have not done the same so far.

Officials from the state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell said that the NCTE, in a recent letter, has told the state government that it has no plans to add new seats, while the BCI is also against implementing EWS quota in both three- and five-year LLB courses.

“We are also waiting for clarity on Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) courses as well,” said Anand Rayate, commissioner, CET cell.