Quota law covers unaided colleges too

A political crisis is brewing in northern India as a result of the 104th Constitutional amendment.

Under the amendment, which the government plans to implement through a Bill, even unaided institutions, including professional colleges, would also have to reserve seats for OBCs, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.

The Human Resource Development Ministry's proposal to implement this law had hit a wall after the Election Commission sought a clarification for suspected violation of the model code of conduct.

However, even without a fresh scheme, the law empowers Dalit and OBC students to demand reservation in all private colleges, including medical and engineering institutions.

According to the statement of objects and reasons attached to the Amendment Bill, the insertion of Clause 5 in Article 15 is meant to provide greater access to education to a large number of students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and backward classes.

Ministry sources said the new law would make private institutions duty-bound to reserve seats for SC/STs and OBCs. However, this provision will only marginally affect southern India as private engineering and medical colleges there already reserve seats for SCs/STs, OBCs, and minorities.

While there were only about four private engineering colleges in India in 1970 as against 135 aided engineering colleges, in 2005, the number of private engineering colleges had gone up to 1,200 compared with 200 government colleges. More than half of them are in southern India.

In private unaided medical and dental colleges in Karnataka, for instance, 50 per cent seats come under the merit-cum-reservation scheme.

Karnataka government last year announced a seat-sharing formula and a new fee structure for medical, dental and engineering courses, under which the state retained 75 per cent seats, leaving 25 per cent at the management's discretion. This ensures lower fee as well as quota for the backward classes.

In Kerala, where self-financing professional colleges were in the eye of a controversy for exorbitant fees, 50 per cent seats remained with the state.

Out of these, 15 per cent are allocated between the Malabar area and the Travancore-Cochin area, in the ratio of 5:8. Of the remaining 35%, Muslims get 8 per cent, Latin Catholics 2 per cent, backward Christians 1 per cent, backward Hindus 5 per cent, SCs 8 per cent, and STs 2 per cent.

In Delhi, the law for reserving seats for the OBCs and SC/STs in professional colleges has found vehement critics.