The 10 per cent EWS quota was approved by the Union Cabinet on January 7 and its implementation across all central institutions was notified by the HRD Ministry on January 17.
All centrally-funded educational institutions — including IITs, IIMs, central universities, NITs and IIITs — will collectively add close to 1.2 lakh seats in the new academic session starting July, and another 95,000 next year to implement the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
The central institutions were asked to increase their intake over two years in a way that the existing number of seats for SC, ST, OBC and general category students did not face cuts. This increase was pegged at 25 per cent by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in a press conference held last month.
The capacity expansion will cost the government roughly Rs 5,600 crore, according to the implementation plan shared by all central institutions by January 31.
Of this, Rs 3,830 crore has been sought for building new infrastructure, Rs 723 crore for salaries on account of hiring more teachers, and the remaining for fellowships meant for the added intake.
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