It has been found after the implementation of reservations for Marathas and the economically backward sections, over 83%- 93% of the top junior colleges’ seats will now be reserved, leaving few seats for general category students. From now onwards, the cut-off for admission to Mumbai junior colleges will be high, with reservation seats increasing the competition.
Earlier, the junior colleges in Mumbai have 52% of their seats reserved for the management quota. Now, with a reservation of 16% for Marathas and 10% for economically backward section students, which made overall reservation reach 83%.
The Top junior colleges among all include Ruia College (for arts and science) and Ruparel College (for arts, science, and commerce) in Matunga; Mulund’s Vaze-Kelkar Colege (all three streams); Poddar College (for commerce) in Matunga; and Vile Parle’s Sathaye College (all three streams).
2018 results show that cut-off for Podar College increased from 91.8% in 2017 to 93% in 2018. Also, the cut-off for Vaze-Kelkar college was increased from 89.6% to 90.8%.
The Minority institutions already have various reservations apart from the newly implemented which include 50% minority quota, 5% management quota and 10% in-house quota.
With the implementation of these newly reservation categories, the admission for general category students to minority institutions has proved to be even more difficult.
The Cut-off at Jai Hind College, Churchgate was 85.8% in 2018. The commerce cut-off at NM College, Vile Parle was 94.2%. The science cut-off at KC College, Churchgate, was 87.2% in 2018.
Vaishali Bafna, a member of the System Correcting Movement (SYSCOM), a Pune-based think-tank, said this is not good for the general category students.
“With all these reservations in place, there are hardly any seats left for students who are not eligible under any reservation. In a report we submitted to the government, we asked them to scrap other quotas too, such as sports, cultural and those extended to project-affected persons, which are in addition to all these quotas,” Bafna said.
The Colleges that have a school attached to them, had 20% reservation for in-house students which has now been cut down to 10%.
“We looked at the number of students who applied for admissions in the past, and found there are enough seats vacant after the various quotas,” said an official from the state education department.
“The education department should ensure all quotas are filled before seats are opened for online admissions.
“This way, students would get a clear idea about how many seats are vacant,” said the principal of a suburban college. “Especially for high-demand courses such as commerce and science, the cut-offs for admissions will go up substantially.” added the official.