JNU plans 25% more seats from this academic year

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According to a proposal, the university aims to increase its intake capacity by 1,450, from 5,803 students in 2018-19 to 7,253 in the next session. GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL

NEWDELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is among the few central universities in the country which plan to increase the number of seats by 25% from the coming academic year.

A majority of others leading varsities in the country, however, such as the Delhi University, Banaras Hindu Univericity and Tezpur University, have preferred a more staggered approach.

The government’s move to provide 10% quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS) has necessitated that varsities increase their seats by 25% so that the share of the seats for SC, ST, OBC or general categories is not affected.

The human resource development ministry had asked varsities as well as other educational institutions to draw up a plan so that the number of seats can be increased by 25% in the next two years.

“The JNU has agreed to increase seats by 25% in the academic year 2019-20. According to a proposal, the university aims to increase its intake capacity by 1,450, from 5,803 students in 2018-19 to 7,253 in the next session,” a government official said.

However, a majority of the 40 Central universities have planned to increase seats by 10-15% in the 2019-20 session, and the rest in 2020-21.

It is broadly estimated that the number of seats in the country’s Central universities will increase by 47,000 in the next two years. Of these, around 20,000 seats will come up in the upcoming academic session itself.

“From what I can remember, we had planned to increase our seats by 12.5% this year, and the rest in the next academic year. We have also sought funds for the increase as more seats also requires the creation of several facilities such as labs and hiring of faculty,” Prof Rakesh Bhatnagar, vice chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), said.

Assam’s Tezpur University is also going for a phased increase of seats. “It is expected that there will be a 10-12% increase in the upcoming year,” a varsity official said.

Prof Saket Kushwaha of Arunchal Pradesh’s Rajiv Gandhi University said the university was planning to increase the number of seats by around 10% in 2019-20 and around 15% in 2020-21.

Delhi University is also planning a phased approach, according to a government official.

“Most of the older universities have gone for a phased approach. JNU is perhaps the only notable exception. However, a few newer universities have also shared plans to effect the entire 25% increase in the upcoming academic year itself,” the government official cited above said.

Of the central universities, Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will not be implementing the EWS quota.

However, with most of the country’s universities choosing to go for a phased increase, a challenge that has presented itself is how to ensure that the share of none of the other sections is affected.

According to the HRD ministry’s calculations, to bring in 10% seats for the EWS sections, there should be a 25% increase in seats.

“This is a teething trouble. However, it will be ensured that neither the number nor the share of any of the sections such as SCs, STs or OBCs is affected in any way,” another government official said.