5 income slabs fixed for supernumerary quota in engg colleges

The State government has fixed five income slabs ranging between Rs one and six lakh per annum for supernumerary quota (SNQ) in engineering and polytechnic colleges.

SNQ was introduced by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) last year, in which five per cent of seats in each engineering/polytechnic college and course is reserved for families with an annual income of less than Rs six lakh per annum. These seats are over and above the seat matrix.

The government has now fixed five income slabs - up to Rs one lakh; Rs 1 lakh - Rs 2 lakh; Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh; Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh; Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh for supernumerary quota. Students in the lowest income slab (up to Rs one lakh) will get the first preference while allotting seats under SNQ followed by the second slab (Rs 1 lakh - Rs 2 lakh) and so forth. 

Present academic year

Addressing a press conference after a meeting with officials in Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande and Minister of State for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil said the new system will come into effect from the present academic year (2014-15). They said the system had to be put in place as earlier most of the seats in the quota were being bagged by students whose family had higher incomes.

As many as 5,000 seats each in engineering and polytechnic courses will come under SNQ, they said. 

Under this quota, eligible candidates can get undergraduate seats for Rs 3,090 and it is mandatory in all private aided, private unaided and government engineering/polytechnics colleges.

The State government will take steps to curb the practice of “seat blocking,” they said. Henceforth, all seats surrendered by institutions affiliated to Comed-K will mandatorily be transferred to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). The government will initiate action against colleges trying to change government quota seats to management quota, they said.

Surrender of seats

As soon as a student surrenders a seat, the college should inform the technical education board, medical education department or Ayush as the case may be. The departments in turn will have to submit reports to the KEA. These seats will be transferred to government quota. The higher education department will depute observers during entrance tests conducted by COMEDK and minority institutions. The conduct of the examination at various centres will have to be videographed.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investing into the alleged fraud during the seat selection process at KEA in 2013-14, they said. There will be no change in fee structure for engineering, medical and dental courses for the academic year 2014-15, they added.

Deemed universities

Replying to queries, Patil said the State can get government quota seats in deemed universities only after arriving at a mutual seat sharing arrangement. He said while Manipal and Nitte educational institutions have come forward to provide 25 per cent of the seats to the government, many deemed universities are yet to sign agreements with the government.