In a first, West Bengal reserves 20% seats for women in government polytechnics, ITIs

NEW DELHI: In a first-of-its-kind move, the West Bengal government has introduced 20% reservation for women candidates in the state’s government polytechnics, industrial training institutes and vocational training centres. According to a report by Times of India, a notification regarding this was issued in December 2023 by the Department of Technical Education, Training and Skill Development.

The move comes in the wake of significant increase in registration of girl students in the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEE). According to reports, around 43,121 girls will write the WBJEE in 2024, 10,176 more than last year – a rise by about 23%.

According to the TOI report, the notification stated that There will be a reservation of 20% seats for female candidates uniformly in all verticals and 50% district domicile quota, applicable from 2024-25 academic year. If seats remain vacant after second counselling, those will be converted to open category seats.

It further added that admission for these skill development courses will be done through a “centralised admission portal” along with a “common application form” with “fees collected online” to ease the process for the applicants.

ITI, Polytechnic: 50% district domicile quota

The Bengal government has also introduced a district domicile quota with 50% seats allocated to students from districts of state government technical institutes. Domicile quota is the percentage of seats reserved for candidates residing in that specific district or state. Further, the report added that institutes in Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and bigger towns like Kalyani, Serampore, Chandernagore and Chinsurah will not have a domicile quota and can admit any number of students from anywhere in the state.

The main objective of the district domicile quota was to attract a good number of candidates from each district said an official from the technical department said in the report.