Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: The BJD government’s recent decision to raise the reservation ratio of ST, SC students in higher educational institutions from 20 to 38.75% has put the government on back foot after Opposition parties expressed apprehension about the quality of output from these institutions.

“What was the need to raise the quota bar when the backward class students are getting enough opportunity to study in good institutions? Now that an average backward student gets a seat in these places, it will surely affect the quality of students they have been producing for years,” opined Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik.

“The government rather should fix a qualifying mark for all as benchmark for admission in medical and engineering colleges,” he added.

Senior BJP leader Basant Panda said instead of caste-based reservations, the government should make a policy so as to give the economically weaker sections of the society priority during admissions.

“I don’t understand why the government is dragging caste into the education system. A poor but meritorious student should be given a chance for higher studies. Reservations should be made on the basis of financial conditions, and not caste,” he added.

scrollToTop