Mumbai: Students from the Open category will have seven per cent reservation when it comes to First Year Junior College (FYJC) admissions. On the other hand, those who wish to secure admissions to their school’s junior college (in-house category) will only have 10 per cent reservation, instead of the earlier 20 per cent.
In an attempt to accommodate students of all backgrounds in FYJC, the state has reduced the number of seats for in-house students. Students belonging to the SC/ST/NT quota have a reservation of 52 per cent. There is a 16 per cent reservation for the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC), also termed as the Maratha quota.
In addition, 10 per cent seats are reserved for students belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and 5 per cent for the management quota. Now, the state has reserved only 10 per cent seats for the in-house category, leaving 7 per cent seats for students securing FYJC admissions under the open category.
Students have opposed this allocation of seats, claiming decreasing the number of in-house seats will force them to run around seeking admissions in other colleges, instead of their own school. Joshal Banerjee, a student, said, “If there are less number of seats in the in-house category, we will have to seek admissions in other junior colleges other than those attached to our own schools. This will make it difficult for us.”
They have questioned the need for a special Maratha reservation, saying, instead, there should be more seats for the Open category. Sanyog Dhumal, a student, said, “It is unfair to students from the Open category, who do not qualify for any caste, social or economical reservation. Instead of reducing the Maratha reservation, the state has reduced in-house reservation and this will directly affect us.”