Maharashtra FYJC second merit list to be out today, colleges expect marginal dip in cutoffs

Nearly two months after admissions to first year junior college (FYJC) were stayed owing to the Supreme Court’s (SC) interim stay on Maratha quota, the education department will finally release the second merit list for admissions at 11am today without the 12% reservation. After the first admission round, which completed in September, nearly 2.42 lakh seats remained vacant for admissions in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Principals of coveted city colleges said they were expecting a marginal dip in their cut-offs. “We already had a considerable number of admissions in the first round, so the dip in cut-offs should not be a lot,” said Ashok Wadia, principal, Jai Hind college, Churchgate. The college closed its first merit list at 89.4% for science and 92.6% for both commerce and arts streams.

Most prominent colleges also said they only had about 30-40% seats vacant after the first round of admissions which can be filled in this and the upcoming rounds.

“Since we had already completed minority admissions and general admissions in the first round, nearly 70% of the total seats were taken up. We hope that the remaining seats will be filled in the days to come so that online lectures for FYJC can begin soon,” said Satram Verhani, vice-principal of CHM college in Ulhasnagar.

Some principals said students are likely to prioritise getting into a college and beginning the new academic year soon. “Due to the delay, students are now looking forward to the year to begin. Many students might also be willing to compromise on their college preferences as the mode of learning is going to be online at least for the current year,” said the principal of a South Mumbai based college.

On September 9, in line with the apex court’s interim stay on Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) quota in jobs and education, the state education department had stayed the admission process for FYJC until further orders. While the state government has revealed that admissions to all courses will now take place without the quota, it has also clarified that students whose admissions in the first merit list were confirmed under the quota will remain intact.