College quota goes up
The new quota regime will be applicable to the IITs, IIMs, NITs and central universities, writes Chetan Chauhan.
The central government has decided to introduce a quota for other backward classes in the higher-education institutes funded by it. The institutes will include the IITs, IIMs, NITs and 20 central universities, including DU.
"Only institutes like Delhi University and its colleges, which have an open admission system, will come under the quota purview in the coming academic year (2006-07)," said an official from the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
At the IITs, IIMs and NITs, the quota is likely to come into effect from the next academic session (2007-08) because the admission process for 2006-07 has already started there (admission tests have taken place). For other institutes, the HRD Ministry is expected to announce its decision after assembly election in five states.
HRD minister Arjun Singh said, "We've decided to adopt the Mandal Commission model of 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in all central government-funded educational institutes.” He added, “The decision can't be announced because of elections.”
With this, the overall reservation in central government-funded educational institutions will go up from the current 22.5 (for SC and ST students) to 49.5 per cent.
Officials said they expected that the 20 central universities -- including DU, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and over 100 autonomous colleges -- might have 49.5 per cent reservation in place from the coming academic year.
Institutes like JMI, St Stephens College, Zakir Hussain College and colleges of the Delhi Gurdwara Prabandhak Management Committee can be exempted from the quota if they are notified as minority institutions.
The ministry's decision will not be applicable for state universities and colleges. That has been left to the state governments. (IP University comes under the Delhi Government.)
Reservation for socially and educationally backward classes, including OBCs, was incorporated into the Constitution through an amendment bill passed in Parliament in December. The amendment empowered governments -- at the Centre and in the states -- to frame rules for an unspecified quota in educational institutions. Minority institutions were kept out of the bill's purview.
Any decision to introduce a quota for OBCs in medical institutes like AIIMS and PGI, Chandigarh will have to be taken by the Health Ministry.
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