Several Tamil Nadu universities have lately announced the implementation of a 10% quota for EWS candidates, in addition to a 49.5 percent reservation for OBC, SC, and ST candidates.
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K Ponmudy, Tamil Nadu’s Higher Education Minister, has directed all universities in the state to follow a 69 percent reservation policy when admitting students for the coming academic year.
According to a leading news daily, the minister’s statement comes at a time when certain universities in TamilNadu, including Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), have announced a 10% quota for candidates from the economically weaker section (EWS) in addition to a 49.5 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in specific courses funded by the central government.
Unlike the central government, Tamil Nadu has a 69 percent reservation policy in educational institutes and government jobs, guaranteeing 26.5 percent seats to Backward Classes, 20% to Most Backward Classes/Denotified Communities, 3.5 percent to Backward Classes Muslim, 18 percent to Scheduled Castes, and 1% to Schedule Tribes.
“Some institutions follow the Centre’s quota system since they receive central funds,” he said, adding that because MKU is totally under the supervision of the Tamil Nadu government, it must follow the state’s reservation policy.
Ponmudy further stated that an official circular would be released shortly.
Tamil Nadu had previously opposed the central government’s implementation.
The government of Tamil Nadu, has also opposed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), a national-level medical entrance exam, alleging that it is unfair to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, the state government established an expert council to investigate the social and economic consequences of the common entrance exam. According to the committee’s assessment, students who enrolled in MBBS courses using NEET did worse than those who enrolled based on their class 12 grades.
