The President of India has given his assent to the bill providing 10% reservation in jobs and educational institutions to the economically weaker sections in the general category. The legislation will be known as the Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019 and it shall come into force on such date as the Centre notifies.

The act was passed in a hurry. State governments were not consulted about this move that required the Constitution to be amended. The Union government wants to ensure that no group is left out by new quota. The government is keen on a roll-out in the forthcoming academic session and is framing rules for implementation of the quota in private institutions as well. The constitutional amendment passed by Parliament states the reservation will be applicable in aided as well as unaided institutions.

There are significant strains on the educational institutes as

Universities:

• In order to ensure that the reservations don’t impact seats for other categories, additional 25% seats to be created in educational institutions.
• This additional enrolment would require universities and colleges to add to infrastructure very quickly – classrooms, teachers, hostels in a short span of time.
• In centrally funded higher education institutions (HEIs) from the 2019-20 academic session, the Centre has decided to foot the additional financial requirements.
• The paucity of time and the amount of money allotted for infrastructure would be debatable if it is possible to implement the quota in such a short span.
• A point in case was Punjab University’s statement that it would need about Rs 500 crore to implement the new quota.

Private Institutions:

• The anxiety is even more acute in private institutions, which will now have to implement the quota system that it had ignored all these years.
• Most colleges have loans to repay and any restrictions on their ability to charge fees they consider appropriate would result in great financial stress.
• Implementing the new quota is also expected to delay the process of hiring teachers this year.

State Governments:

• The quota would place an additional burden on state governments if they are expected to implement it in the 2019-2020 academic year.
• Most Indians who access higher education attend state-level institutions, which receive grants from the state coffers.
• This does not bode well for state budgets, especially in states like Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where public higher education institutions are strong.

Students:

• Lack of clarity on payment of fees in private colleges despite gaining an entry through EWS quota will be a futile attempt for the students.

Way Forward:

• The problem faced by children and young people of Socially Advanced Castes who are genuinely poor is that they are not able to afford education to the fuller level for want of financial capacity.
• The Union government should lead by example by starting new, good-quality universities instead of adding burden on the existing ones.
• A one-time fund can be granted to states for expanding the educational infrastructure.
• This problem has to be resolved and can be resolved by having a comprehensive scheme of scholarships and educational loans through direct benefit transfer.
• Roping in CSR funds of Corporates, NGOs, CSOs for help in infrastructure funding.
• A robust system must be put in place to weed out the ghost beneficiaries of such quota which adds to fiscal strain.

Conclusion:

        The Reservation Act will definitely be a boon to many poor students. However, there should be a deliberated, well-thought out roadmap for the implementation, barring which the amendment itself would be a futile effort.