NEW DELHI: In a decision that will have political ramifications, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry plans to implement OBC quota in Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas from the next academic session.
Till now, there was no provision for reservation for OBC students at school level though SC/ST students were given reservations.
There are 1,228 KVs in India under the Department of School Education & Literacy of the HRD Ministry with 13 lakh students.
It is the largest chain of schools globally.
There are about 600 Navodaya Vidyalayas — a system of residential schools for talented students of Class VI-XII predominantly from rural areas, where reservation to SC/ST students is given in proportion to their population in the specific district.
At present, 15% of all fresh admissions in KVs are reserved for SC students, 7.5% for the ST category and 3% for differently abled children.
JNVs have provision of reservation for ST/SC but these schools also need to ensure 75% students from rural areas, maximum 25% from urban areas, 33% female students and 3% disabled students.
Officials in the HRD ministry said the decision to extend the quota in centrally run schools was taken after discussions with the Social Justice and Law ministries, and the OBC Commission.