Anna University Will Adopt 69 Percent Quota For MTech Courses, Says Tamil Nadu Minister

On Monday, Higher education minister K Ponmudi said that Anna University will adopt 69 percent reservation criteria for admissions to its MTech degrees in biotechnology and computational biology this year. In none of the state universities, there will be a 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS).

Admissions for the two programmes, which are supported by the Union government's department of biotechnology (DBT), sparked a disagreement last year since the Centre intended the university to implement the Centre's 49.5 percent reservation policy, which the state government objected to. DBT-sponsored individuals who passed the Graduate Aptitude Test of Biotechnology (GAT-B) were admitted within the 49.5 percent reservation after a judicial intervention. It also adhered to the 10% EWS quota.

Candidates accepted into these two programmes receive a monthly stipend of Rs12,000 from DBT. Ponmudi said that Chief Minister M K Stalin will write to the Centre requesting that the students' stipend be continued, and that if the Centre refused, the state would use the 69 percent reservation method. The same reservation, according to Ponmudi, pertained to DBT-sponsored MTech courses at Bharathidasan University and Madurai Kamaraj University.

Classes for first-year engineering students will commence on October 25, according to the minister. On October 17, the online general consultation would come to an end. 10,000 more students enrolled in engineering courses throughout the first two rounds of engineering counselling than the past year.

Meanwhile, 5,970 students received engineering counselling as part of the 7.5 percent special reserve for government school students. The government said that it will cover the entire cost of such students' tuition and dormitory costs.