india

Updated: Apr 01, 2020 16:44 IST

The human resource development (HRD) ministry has framed new reservation rules for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) run by it to provide quotas to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). It’s the first time that seats are being reserved for OBC students at the school level.

KVs will create additional seats for scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs) and OBCs incase their numbers fall short after the regular admission procedure.

For JNVs, it has been decided that the proportion of reservation for SCs and STs will be equal to their population of the district where the school is located but subject to minimum of the national average and a maximum of 50% for both these categories. Above this 27% reservation will be provided to the OBCs.

This would help in imparting quality education to rural students in districts with large SC, ST populations while also providing opportunities to the OBCs, said a senior official who didn’t want to be named.

The HRD ministry has also finalised the norms for implementing reservation for OBCs in KVs from the upcoming academic session itself.

According to the modalities decided by the ministry, in the KVs, it has been decided that in the first phase, there will be a draw of lots for the seats reserved under the Right to Education Act from among the SCs,STs and OBCs. Following this, the seats for students belonging to employees in transferable jobs under the central government would be taken up and following that seats for those in public sector undertakings would be filled.

Priority will also be given to the wards of state government employees.

According to an HRD ministry official, once these seats are filled, a significant number of students would belong to the SC, ST and the OBC sections.

In case it is found that the number of such students is below the reservation proposed, additional seats can be created, the official said.

“The Modi government has a strong commitment for the welfare of the backward sections and HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has felt that the constitutional mandate should be fulfilled without delay,” said the official.

He added that despite the lockdown for the coronavirus disease, the ministry did not want to delay the important decision, which was taken when a majority of HRD ministry officials are working from home.

The KVs are a chain of schools under the Union HRD ministry for the children of transferable central government employees. Currently, they provide 15% reservation in admissions to SC and 7.5% to ST students, apart from setting aside 25% seats under provisions of the Right to Education Act (RTE). The latter includes horizontal reservation of 3% for disabled students.

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan was established in November 1962 to provide uninterrupted education to wards of transferable central government employees. It has 1,228 schools, including three abroad in Kathmandu, Tehran and Moscow. Around 1.3 million students study at these schools. There are 661 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, which are geared towards rural areas.

At present, 27% positions for OBCs are reserved in government jobs and higher education, but none at the school level. “This is the first time reservations for OBC students are being provided in the school education sector,” said the second official.