KVS admissions: Centre scraps MP quota in KVs, revised admission guidelines out
The government has scrapped the discretionary Member of Parliament (MP) quota for admissions to the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and issued revised admission guidelines on Monday.
The government has scrapped the discretionary Member of Parliament (MP) quota for admissions to the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and issued revised admission guidelines on Monday.
The move comes a week after the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) had put admissions under ‘special provisions’, including the MP quota, on hold till further orders.
Under KVS Special Dispensation Admission Scheme or MP quota, an MP in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha can recommend a maximum of 10 students from their respective constituencies every academic year for admission in classes 1 to 9.
There had been a long pending demand from MPs to either do away with the MP quota or increase the number of students who can be admitted on the basis of recommendation.
According to the revised guidelines issued by the KVS, several amendments have been made under the ‘special provisions’ section of the admission policy. Other than the MP quota, the KVS has also removed other quotas including 100 children of Ministry of Education employees, children and dependent grandchildren of MPs and retired KV employees, and the discretionary quota of school management committee chairman among others.
A senior official at the KVS, requesting anonymity, said that the amendments have been made by the Sangathan after due consideration. “The MP quota has been scrapped along with some other quotas under the special provisions section of the admission. Some new quotas have also been included in their place,” he said.
The new quotas included 50 seats for the wards of group B and C central police organisations such as CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, CISF, NDRF, and Assam Rifles under Ministry of Home Affairs, posted for internal security, border guarding, disaster response and other difficult areas based on list provided by the MHA. Besides, the KVS has also officially included children covered under the PM CARES scheme under the special provisions.
The admissions made under the special provisions are over and above the designated class strength.
During the recently concluded Parliament session, several MPs, including Congress’ Manish Tewari and BJP MP Sushil Modi, demanded that the quota should be scrapped or the government increase the limit.
On March 21, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged the Lok Sabha to collectively debate and decide whether the MP quota in KVs should continue or be scrapped. Following his appeal, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had suggested that there could be an all-party meeting to deliberate over the matter.
According to the official data, during the year 2021-22, 7301 students, including SC-609, ST-212, OBC-1811 and EWS – 55, were admitted through MP quota across 1,248 KVs in the country.
