Kolkata

KOLKATA: Jadavpur University has got a nod from both the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) Board and state government to introduce 90% reservation for domicile candidates while the remaining seats will be offered to other students. On Thursday, the WBJEE Board chairman Malayendu Saha said the domicile reservation will be implemented from this year.  

However, the decision of the varsity has garnered a divided opinion from various engineering departments. Two engineering departments had, initially, turned down the proposal, citing that the tradition, followed over the past several decades in the varsity, produced excellent alumni. “The department has pointed out it was due to the diversity among students that the department has been able to keep its flag flying high over the years. So, they are not interested in limiting the majority of the seats to domicile candidates only,” said sources.

JU, a state-run university, has decided to introduce the domicile reservation system as it accepts several funds from the state government along with other facilities. So, they are willing to reserve maximum seats for the students of Bengal. Many departments pointed out that several other premier state-run technology institutes outside Bengal have also introduced similar reservations for domicile candidates.  

There are approximately 1,200 seats in the JU’s engineering faculty out of which 45% is for reserved candidates (SC, ST, OBC, PH and others).