Admission to KVs under ‘spl provisions’ on hold
NEW DELHI: The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has put admissions under ‘special provisions’, including the discretionary Member of Parliament (MP) quota, on hold till further orders.
“As per the directions of KVS headquarters, New Delhi, you are hereby informed that ‘no admissions should be done under ‘special provisions’ till further orders,” a circular issued by regional offices of KVS on Tuesday said. HT has seen a copy of the circular.
The ‘special provisions’ in KVS refer to admissions under 21 different categories such as children of central government employees, children of recipients of Param Vir Chakra, recipients of National bravery award, children orphaned due to Covid-19 and covered under PM-Cares for Children, and recommendations by MPs, among others.
Under the KVS Special Dispensation Admission Scheme also called the MP quota, a parliament member can recommend a maximum of 10 students from their respective constituencies every academic year for admissions in classes 1 to 9.
A senior official at KVS confirmed that admissions under the ‘special provisions’ were put on hold ‘temporarily’.
“The admissions process under the ‘special provisions’ are under review. We are examining the previous year’s vacancies, number of applications and total number of seats available. The sangathan may resume the admission process under all these quotas by next week,” the official said, seeking anonymity.
When asked if the decision to halt the admission process under the ‘special provisions’ was taken amid demands to scrap the MP quota, the official said: “No such decision of scrapping MP quota has been made so far.”
During the recently-concluded Parliament session, Congress MP Manish Tewari in Lok Sabha had urged the Centre to either do away with the MP quota or increase the number of students who can be admitted on the basis of recommendation from 10 to 50.
On March 21, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged the Lower House to collectively debate and decide whether the MP quota should be continued. Following his appeal, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla suggested an all-party meeting to deliberate on the matter.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sushil Kumar Modi on Thursday released a video welcoming the KVS’ move.