10% Quota Bill: These specialised institutes won't have reservation for economically weaker sections

Central government on Thursday exempted as many as eight institutes of excellence from implementing 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections.

The order has been conveyed to UGC, AICTE and other higher education department officials. (Image: PTI)

10% Quota Bill: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government on Thursday exempted as many as eight institutes of excellence from implementing 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research in Tamil Nadu and Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai are among the eight institutes of excellence. The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry in its recent order to educational regulatory bodies as well as all states and Union Territories said that apart from these eight institutes all other central universities and colleges will have to implement the quota from 2019-20 session. The order from HRD ministry came a week after Parliament cleared the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill assuring the quota in education and employment in the general category. The ministry has also asked all central institutes and universities to announce the revised seats on their websites after EWS reservation by March 31. List of eight institutes of excellence exempted from 10% EWS reservation:  1. Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai and its constituent units namely:- i. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre - Mumbai ii. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research - Kalpakkam iii. Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology - Indore iv. Institute for Plasma Research - Gandhinagar v. Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre - Kolkata vi. Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics - Kolkata vii. Institute of Physics - Bhubaneshwar viii. Institute of Mathematical Science - Chennai ix. Harish - Chandra Research Institute - Prayagraj x. Tata Memorial Centre - Mumbai 2. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - Mumabi 3. North - East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science - Shillong 4. National Brain Research Centre - Gurugram 5. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research - Bengaluru 6. Physical Research Laboratory - Ahmedabad 7. Space Physics Laboratory - Thiruvananthapuram 8. Indian Institute of Remote Sensing - Dehradun In case any central university or institution is not able to display the revised seat structure by March 31, it must submit the projection to government-affiliated bodies such as University Grants Commission'(UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education( AICTE), the ministry said. The ministry also mentioned that if the affiliated body is satisfied with this, it can exempt the university/ college to implement 10 per cent EWS reservation for one year. The recent order by HRD ministry has been conveyed to UGC, AICTE and other higher education department officials. The ministry has also made it cleared that EWS reservation exemption will not be applicable for eight institutes of excellence and institute of national & strategic importance. The constitutional amendment to provide the 10 per cent quota was approved by Parliament last week and had received assent from President Ram Nath Kovind last week. The 10 per cent EWS reservation will be applicable for those who meet certain criterias qualifying them as economically backward. This qualification will be based on the value of assets held by a person and/or their annual income. For instance, a person will be qualified as economically weaker if: i. Their annual income is below Rs 8 lakh per annum ii. They own agricultural land of less than five hectres iii. They own homes smaller than 1,000 sq. ft. iv. They own residential plots below 109 yards in notified municipality v. They own residential plot below 209 yards in non notified municipality area