THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government's decision to end floating reservations in medical and engineering admissions will result in the loss of more than 700 reserved seats for backward-Muslim students. A 20-year-old practice is being sabotaged by the bureaucratic lobby by misleading higher education minister R Bindu.

Higher Education Principal Secretary Ishita Roy has also written to the Commissioner of Admissions suggesting that institution-level reservation should be implemented instead of floating reservation in government engineering colleges from the coming academic year and the prospectus should be revised for this purpose. The letter also says that this is on the recommendation of the Director of Technical Education. This also applies to medical admissions. The Entrance Commissioner is waiting for the order of the Government to issue the notification for admission.

When this applies to 10 percent general reservation, they will also lose their seat.

Floating reservation

Facility for a student who is eligible for a seat on state merit and reservation to transfer to a college where he is getting a merit seat and another person who is eligible for that reservation seat to get that seat. For example, a student who gets a reserved seat for MBBS at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College can switch to a merit seat at Kottayam Medical College. That reserved seat in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College will be given to another person from the same community.

747 seats in 2023

In 2023, in the government sector, 747 candidates including 174 for MBBS and 573 for engineering got admission under floating reservation. As the total number of seats increases, the reserved seats also increase. While reservation is made at the institution level, those who are eligible for merit seats will also be reserved in reserved seats. The merit seats they lose will be transferred to the general category. Floating reservation was introduced on the recommendation of the legislative committee to prevent this.

Minister R. Bindu being misled

Officials misled Minister R Bindu that those who get reserved seats in less-facilitated Wayanad and Idukki medical colleges move to better colleges through floating and those who get seats on merit do not, and the dropout of smart people affects the quality of these colleges. The minister agreed without understanding the harm done to the backward class. The government is sabotaging reservations by not providing study facilities in these colleges.

Not the first sabotage attempt

In 2019, during the first Pinarayi government, the official lobby tried to do the same manipulation. Sensing the harm done to the backward class, the then Higher Education Minister Dr KT Jaleel met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and prevented the sabotage.