While cut-offs soared for degree courses, especially in Arts faculty, those who applied under newly introduced socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) or Maratha and economically weaker section (EWS) quotas face little competition.

Non-minority colleges in the city, where these reservations were implemented, received a few applications under the two categories compared to the number of seats reserved for them. As a result, the cut-offs for both the categories were much lower than most of the other categories, with the SEBC and EWS students managing to secure seats in some of the coveted colleges for scores as low as 47%.

The 16% reservation for Marathas under SEBC and 10% reservation for EWS were implemented in non-minority institutes only, as 50% seats in linguistic and religious minority institutes are reserved for students of their respective communities.

Consider this: The threshold for admission in BA at Ramniranjan Ruia College, Matunga in the second merit list was 94.4% – one of the highest in the city. However, the admission for EWS and Maratha candidates closed at 71.2% and 54%, respectively. In fact, the SEBC cut-off was lower than even scheduled castes (74%) and other backward castes (71.54%).

According to colleges, many students who belonged to the two categories couldn’t avail the reservation, as they didn’t have valid certificates. “The number of EWS and SEBC applications was less than other categories, resulting in low cut-offs. Many students don’t have valid certificates to avail of the reservation benefits,” said Anushree Lokur, principal, Ruia College.

Many colleges didn’t receive a single application under the two categories for some of the subjects. At Ruparel College, there was no claimant for most of the EWS seats. “Many students lack awareness about the new reservations,” said Avinash Patil, BK Birla College, Kalyan. “There are many doubts and confusion over the quotas. It will be a while before the issues surrounding them are settled,” said Vidyadhar Joshi, vice-principal, VG Vaze College.

Joshi said the disparity in scores isn’t a cause for concern. “The low scores aren’t just because of SEBC and EWS quotas. We always had reservations in admission. The marks are a determinant only for admissions. Those who couldn’t score well should learn from their past mistakes and improve their performance,” he said.

First Published: Jun 23, 2019 23:47 IST