Students are left in a confused state as the ongoing First Year Junior College (FYJC) online admission process has been postponed until further notice due to the Supreme Court's (SC) direction regarding the socially and educationally backward class (SEBC) reservation. The second merit list which was supposed to be declared on Thursday has been postponed.
This year, 12 per cent seats were reserved for SEBC in FYJC admission. The state education department announced on the standard 11th centralised online admission process portal, "Declaration of allotment list for round-2 was scheduled to display on September 10, 2020, as a part of Std.11th centralised online admission process 2020-21. However, with reference to the orders of the Supreme Court (SC) of India (regarding SEBC reservation), the rest admission process is postponed until further notice. Further time-table for the 11th online admission process will be declared after government approval."
Students state they do not know what to do because their admission process is stuck halfway. Priya Nadar, a student said, "There has already been a delay as the FYJC admission process is generally completed by August. But this year it is already September, and only one merit list has been declared." While, Sumeet Mehta, another student said, "Now, we have to wait for changes initiated by the government on the SEBC quota reservation which will further delay the start of our academic year."
A senior officer of the state education department managing FYJC online admission said, "Those students who have already confirmed admissions under SEBC quota will not be affected. The SC direction applies to admissions yet to be done under the SEBC quota. We have not yet received a date for the declaration of the second merit list."
On September 9, the SC stayed reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for candidates belonging to the Maratha community in Maharashtra and referred the matter to a Constitution Bench for final adjudication. Now, the matter will be placed before CJI SA Bobde for constituting an appropriate Bench. During the pendency of the matter before the top court, no reservation can be given to the Maratha community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act.
The apex court clarified that those who have already availed the benefits of the state's SEBC Act will be not affected by this order, adding that, no further admissions or appointments will be allowed in accordance with the act till the larger bench decides on the issue.
Around 78,610 students have confirmed admissions in total after the end of the first merit round. This year, over 2.75 lakh students have registered online against 3.20 lakh seats in 844 colleges in the Mumbai region.
