Bengaluru: Supernumerary quota to be tweaked to ensure seats are filled Taken aback by the number of seats that go unfilled each year, the State Higher Education Department is planning to increase the income ceiling for the candidates seeking professional undergraduate courses seats through
Karnataka Common Entrance Test (K-CET) under the Supernumerary Quota.
In a governing council meeting held at Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) on Monday, the members of the council batted for increasing the income ceiling from this year to up to Rs. 8 lakh from the existing Rs. 6
lakh for candidates, who can claim seats under the Supernumerary Quota.
KEA officials said that the quota has several slabs that start from Rs. 1 lakh and extend up to Rs. 6 lakh, but they said that the priority under the Supernumerary Quota would be given first to low-income candidates.
An official said, “For example, if there are 10 applications under this quota ranging between Rs.1 lakh income and Rs. 6 lakh income per annum, priority would be given to the low-income applications.”
This decision was taken, officials said, to ensure the seats don’t go unfilled. “There are 22,000 seats in the engineering category that were left unfilled last year. If the income limit is increased then there will be a number
of applicants, who can claim seats. We have assessed that the income limit can be raised.”
Higher Education Minister GT Devegowda confirmed that this decision had been taken.
KEA is now gathering details from all professional colleges on last 10 years’ intake and filled and unfilled seats in all categories.
What is the supernumerary quota
This system was introduced by the All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) setting a quota in engineering colleges for allocation of 5 per cent of the seats. This quota applies to all courses and is over and
above the seat matrix of the government. An official said, “If there are 120 seats in a engineering college for Mechanical Engineering, then around six seats will be filled on this quota.” This quota is not available for
Medical, Dental and Architecture courses.
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| source: Bangalore Mirror |
