TN stakeholders oppose Centre’s 10 pc reservation

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday announced that the 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker section would be applicable to all higher education institutions from the next academic session.

Accordingly, MHRD would implement 10 per cent reservation from the 2019 academic session and would also increase around 25 per cent seats in higher educational institutions and universities across the country to facilitate its implementation.

Tamil Nadu Federation of University Faculty Associations (TANFUFA) president Dr I Arul Aram told DT Next on Wednesday that the Centre’s move will further worsen the quota system.

Claiming that many rich businessmen could seek admission through the 10% quota by showing less income, he said, “belief in the system (quota) itself lost”. He pointed out that the Centre should have constituted a committee and should have discussed the reservation with all the stake holders before implementing the scheme. “Government should decrease the quota if not the competition in admission will be tougher”.

“The deserving Other Caste (OC) students will suffer from this scheme,” he said adding government should increase the scholarship given to the students to help people.

Echoing similar views, Association of University Teachers (AUT) general secretary Dr N Shettu said that the Centre should have taken time to discuss all the pros and cons before implementing the reservation quota in higher education. “It will definitely affect OC students to an extent,” he added. Centre should streamline the overall quota system especially in education in order to benefit the students, he added.

Condemning the BJP government for introducing the Bill, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), on Wednesday, said that the party would stage protest against the Bill, in Chennai, onJanuary 25.