Jadavpur University to keep 90 pct engineering seats in general category for home state

The Faculty Council of engineering and technology departments of the Jadavpur University Wednesday adopted a resolution for implementing a domicile policy which will keep 90 per cent BE course seats in general category reserved for students of the home state. After 13 of the 16 departments voiced an opinion in favour of such a move, it was decided that the resolution would be forwarded to the Executive Council, the highest decision making the body of the university, Dean of Engineering Chiranjib Bhattacharya said.

If a domicile policy as adopted in the resolution comes into effect, 90 per cent of the BE course general category seats in the 16 engineering and technology departments would be reserved for 'home students' - those having passed their Plus-II exams from West Bengal. "Most of the faculty council meeting participants felt that since JU is a state university, students from the state should get priority," he said.

"While 13 departments of the engineering and technology faculty council expressed an opinion in favour of a domicile policy at today's faculty council meeting, two others wanted the existing system to remain," Bhattacharya said. Another department was divided with one group rooting for domicile policy and another wants to keep the status quo, the dean of engineering said.

"The faculty followed a democratic principle by passing a resolution which reflects the majority view," Bhattacharya said. "The domicile policy was in vogue in the JU in the 1980s. Since it concerns a major policy shift - re-introduction of the domicile policy - the Vice-Chancellor may forward it to the West Bengal government if so advised by the EC," he said.

The EC meeting is slated to be held in the third week of March, a university official said. Bhattacharya said domicile policy is already in practice in some state-aided higher educational engineering institutes and also in the IIEST, Shibpur.

To a question, Bhattacharya said, the faculty council wants to introduce the domicile system by 2019-2020. Vice Chancellor Prof Suranjan Das could not be contacted for his comments.

(With inputs from agencies.)