The State government is yet to take a call on the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in the general category.
While Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar had stated that this would be implemented in all colleges and universities, including private ones, from the 2019-20 academic year, the State government will have to decide quickly as there is a little over four months for commencement of the next academic year.
B.H. Anil Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Higher Education said that the department had received the order from the Centre and would examine the matter.
To obtain a seat under the EWS quota, the gross annual income of the household should be less than ₹8 lakh. An official in the department pointed out that implementing the quota, which is entirely based on economic grounds, was a challenge due to fake income certificates.
The central government had also stated that for the 2019-2020 academic year, the SC, ST and OBC reservation would be intact, and this would be achieved by increasing the number of seats by 25%.
However, officials of the department are sceptical as the number of seats cannot be enhanced in many institutions as they do not have the necessary infrastructure.
“Enhancing the seats by 25% means we will need infrastructure and will also need more teachers. We have to examine if this is feasible, and take a call on whether we want to adopt it or not,” an official said.
A senior official of a State-run university lashed out at the move, terming it as an exercise being done in a hurry ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“How can you call a family with a monthly income of ₹60,000 as economically weak? We are certain that this will not stand the test of law,” the official added.
