EWS Reservation: Will Govt bear the cost of ‘Reserved’ Category in private institutions?

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17: The passing of the 10 per cent Quota Bill by the Parliament thereby paving way for Reservation of seats for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among General Category has sparked off a hot debate in the academic circle. The Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has further fuelled the debate by announcing that the Reservation will be implemented across 40,000 colleges and 900 universities across the country, including private institutions.

Till date, the reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was implemented in government-run institutions only. Prakash Javadekar while speaking to reporters in New Delhi has said that 10% quota will be applicable to all higher education institutions, private and government, from the upcoming academic session, 2019-20. He also informed that an increase of around 25 per cent seats will be implemented in higher educational institutions and universities.

The passage of 10% Quota Bill has raised two major questions for all the people falling within the ‘Reserved’ Category, first how this will be implemented all over the country in all the institutions, as some states have made provision for reservation for local students in higher education institutions (including private institutions). Second, who will take care of the tuition fee of students taking admission in private institutions, as the candidates will be from the educationally weak background, while the tuition fee and other charges taken by the private universities is several times higher than their public counterparts.

The Minister added that the existing quota for the SC/ST and OBC will remain intact and will not be affected by the implementation of the new quota bill for the people from the economically weaker section among the upper castes.

“The reservation will be implemented from the 2019-2020 academic session itself. Nearly 25 per cent seats will be added to ensure that the reservation does not disturb the existing quota for SC, ST and other categories. There are around 40,000 colleges and 900 universities across the country and supernumerary quota will be provided in these,” Javadekar said.

He also added that the modalities are being worked out and within a week's time Government will come up with the exact number of seats that will be added. The operation manuals about how to implement the quota will be issued soon.

Soon after Minister made this announcement, it is being speculated that the Government will bring a Bill in the upcoming Budget Session for implementation of reservation for SC/ST/OBC and EWS in higher education private institutions.

Private Universities dilemma
On the other hand promoters of private institutions are also sceptical of the Government’s next move, as they are of the view that the Government should have held consultation with them before coming with a such a policy level measure, which will affect them in the longer run.

Presently Indian has around 450 private state and private deemed to be universities operating all over the country. Majority of the Colleges (78%) are privately managed, of which 64.7% are private unaided and 13.3% are Private aided and the remaining 22% are Government Colleges in the Country. There are wide variations among states in the number of private colleges.

As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2018 data, there are 33.75% Colleges, which run the only single programme, out of which 83% are privately managed. Among these privately managed colleges, 55.1% of colleges run B.Ed. Courses only. 78% Colleges are privately managed; 64.7% Private-unaided and 13.3% Private-aided. Andhra Pradesh & Telangana have about 82% Private-unaided colleges and Tamil Nadu has 76.2%Private unaided colleges, whereas, Assam has 12.0% and Chandigarh has only 8.0% Private-unaided colleges.

The Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) is demanding that the Government should clarify whether it would bear the cost of education of SCs, STs and OBCs once reservation is implemented in private institutions.

One of the promoters of a private university on condition of anonymity said, “First the Government is coming up with a populist measure when Election is around the corner, why should we pay the price? We are self-financing institutions. We need to understand who will bear the fee for the education of EWS, SCs, STs and OBCs? If the Government is ready to bear it, we do not have any problem.”

Present Reservation Scenario
The SCs, STs and OBCs are entitled to 15 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 27 per cent reservation, respectively. The Constitution (124 Amendment) Bill, 2019, passed last week provides for reservation for the EWS, taking the pool of reserved seats to 59.5 per cent. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 provides for the reservation of students belonging to the SC, ST and OBC of citizens to Central Educational Institutions (CEI) established, maintained or aided by the Central Government.

According to the AISHE 2018, the estimated Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher education in India is 25.8%, for Scheduled Castes, it is 21.8% and for the Scheduled Tribes it is 15.9%

In terms of total enrolment, Scheduled Casts students constitute 14.4% and Scheduled Tribes students 5.2% of the total enrolment. 35.0% of students belong to Other Backward Classes. 5.0% of students belong to Muslim Minority and 2.2% from Other Minority Communities.

Ambedkar Mahasabha, an organisation representing Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities issued a statement demanding that the government must ensure that the students from SCs, STs, Other Backward Classes and economically weaker sections (EWS) get free education after implementing reservation in private institutions.

Ashok Bharati President of the Mahasabha said, “The government must ensure that the SCs, STs, OBCs and EWS getting admission under reservation also get free education in private institutions. Otherwise, the reservation will have no meaning. The SCs, STs, OBCs and EWS cannot pay the kind of fee charged by the private institutions.”

Final Takeaway
Though the Government has announced that the Reservation will be implemented from the upcoming academic session, it should also keep in certain things on the table while framing the Policy. It is be noted that a Petition was filed in the Supreme Court immediately after the Bill was passed by the Parliament, challenging the Constitutional validity of the Amendment Bill on the grounds that it breaches the 50% ceiling on quotas. It is to be seen how the Government implements this legislation, as it needs to set the house in order before rolling it on the ground, for real beneficiaries to reap the benefits.