CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy, on Tuesday, instructed all universities and colleges, including the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), to follow the 69 per cent reservation policy during admissions.
The minister's statement came in the wake of MKU's decision to provide 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) for Biotechnology seats, funded by the Centre.
The Centre has sanctioned funds to implement 10% reservation for EWS and 49.5 per cent for Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in certain courses. However, the minister made it clear that universities in Tamil Nadu will only follow community-based reservations.
The current reservation in the State is - Backward Classes 30 per cent, Most Backward Classes/Denotified Communities 20 per cent, Scheduled Castes 18 per cent and Scheduled Tribes 1 per cent. Ponmudy said he has spoken to the vice-chancellor of the MKU and asked him to admit students to the 30 seats of MSc (Biotechnology) as per the 69 per cent reservation policy.
"Some universities follow the Centre’s reservation system because they are getting central funds. But MKU is a State university and is completely under State’s control. TN is firm on the community-based reservation," said Ponmudy.
The minister said a circular will be sent to all the universities in the State to strictly follow the 69 per cent reservation system while granting admissions to students. He further highlighted that Chief Minister MK Stalin has also appointed a committee to check the implementation of the reservation.
Last year, admissions to the two courses - MTech in biotechnology and computational biology - at Anna University, which are funded by the Union government's department of biotechnology (DBT), kicked up a debate as the Centre wanted the university to follow the Centre's 49.5 per cent reservation policy, which the State government opposed.
After the Madras High Court's intervention, Anna University admitted DBT-sponsored students under 49.5 per cent reservation and had also followed the 10 per cent EWS quota.