12 Jadavpur University engineering departments back ‘domicile policy’

Kolkata, Feb 27 (IANS) A dozen out of the 16 engineering and technology departments of Jadavpur University (JU) favour introduction of a domicile policy in under-graduate courses, said an official of the engineering faculty here on Wednesday.

If the policy is passed, a certain percentage of seats would be reserved for "home students."

"We needed the feedback from departments on the domicile issue. The boards of around 12 departments gave their feedbacks on Tuesday and most of them are positive," said Chiranjib Bhattacharya, Dean of the engineering faculty.

A senior teacher at the mechanical engineering department said the term "home students" is not board-specific, but refer to students who are permanent residents of West Bengal.

Once the remaining four departments send their proposals, the faculty council meeting on March 6 wouild take a decision, Bhattacharya said.

The percentage of quota could be fixed later and the decision will be finalised by the Executive Council, the university's highest decision-making body.

On the reason behind the demand, Bhattacharya said: "It is mainly coming from the faculty level, particularly in the context that education in the state is highly subsidised."

At Rs 2,000 per year, the tuition fee is the cheapest in the country and it is desirable that students of the state enjoy the facility provided by the state government, he said.

Initially, the council thought the domicile quota would affect the "Institute of Eminence" tag. The central government in 2018 had announced the status under which a public institute will get financial assistance of up to Rs 1,000 crore over five years.

Institutes like the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, and Anna University, Chennai, also follow the domicile policy, he added.

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