KVs put discretionary quota admissions on hold, parents sore

UNDER THIS QUOTA, LOCAL MPS, WHO HAVE RECEIVED A LARGE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS, COULD RECOMMEND ONLY 10 CANDIDATES FOR ADMISSION

PRAYAGRAJ: Following the decision of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to put on hold admissions under discretionary quota, a number of parents of Prayagraj, who were trying to get their wards admitted to any of the nine KVs of the district, have been left disappointed.

This special admission provision includes the quota of 10 candidates recommended by a member of parliament (MP). The stay comes at a time when the two MPs of the district and that of the neighbouring district of Kaushambi were facing an awkward situation of having received a large number of requests this year but having the right to recommend only 10 students each for admissions.

The principals of the nine KVs in the district have received instructions from their higher authorities vide a missive dated April 12.

The missive drew their attention to para 1 of Part B of KVS admission guidelines and stated that “no admission should be done under these special provisions till further communication”.

The ‘special provisions’ in KVS include admissions under 21 different categories, including a KV ward and recommendations by MPs among others.

“We have been asked by KVS that the admissions under all the categories of ‘special provisions’ be put in abeyance till further orders,” said Shalini Dikshit, principal of KV Manauri.

The move has disappointed many desperate parents. “The hold on admissions under discretionary quota in KVs is a huge disappointment as after failing to get admission for last two years, this time I had approached my MP for recommending admission of my only daughter. But now it seems we will be disappointed again,” said Akhilesh, a private firm employee.

Under KVS special dispensation admission scheme (MP Quota), an MP in Lok Sabha can recommend a maximum of 10 students from their respective constituencies every academic year for admission in classes 1 to 9. However, the Rajya Sabha MP can recommend admission to any of the KV of the state.

Although each MP has a quota of recommending admission of only 10 children, hundreds of parents had approached the MPs of Prayagraj region for admission of their wards in the KVs. BJP MP from Phulpur, Keshari Devi Patel, has seven KVs in her Lok Sabha constituency. However, she had received over 2100 applications. Similarly, there are two KVs in Allahabad MP Prof Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s constituency and she had more than 250 people who had appealed to her for recommending the name of their children for admission.

The situation of the MP from Kaushambi, Vinod Sonkar, was no different . . He had received over 90 applications.

Allahabad MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi, said: “I have mixed feelings about the decision as it is true that we had a limited quota of 10 seats, and in face of a large number of applications many of the students would have been left behind. However, with the quota on hold, even those in need, especially, in the aftermath of the pandemic, would fail to get benefits. “