As a result of Thapar University's (TU) decision to abolish the 50% quota for Punjab students, aspirants from the Scheduled Castes (SC) would lose nearly 30% of their reserved share in admissions in undergraduate courses.
In the earlier set-up, when 400 of the 800 seats were reserved for Punjab students, those from the SC category got 25% reservation within the state quota, which meant 100 seats. In addition, there was a 17.5% quota for SCs in the all-India category, too. That meant 70 of the remaining 400 seats.
Now, as per the TU prospectus for 2012-13, SC students would get only 15% quota overall. This would mean 120 seats, down from the 170 reserved for the category in the earlier system. And these 120 seats would be open to all-India competition.
The deemed university, which was set up decades ago with government help and is privately managed, has already abolished the 5% quota for Backward Classes from Punjab and the 2% quota for sportspersons from the state (as has been reported by HT). In fact, the Punjab State Commission for Backward Classes has already issued notices to TU asking for an explanation. TU is yet to reply.
When contacted, an official from TU, who asked not to be named since the institute has told its staff not to talk to the media, said, "TU is following norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC). There is no question of deliberately harming chances of students from any category."
{{/usCountry}}When contacted, an official from TU, who asked not to be named since the institute has told its staff not to talk to the media, said, "TU is following norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC). There is no question of deliberately harming chances of students from any category."
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