Amid the ongoing undergraduate admission process, students from Puducherry government schools are awaiting the issuance of a government order (GO) to formalise the 10% internal reservation across all courses under the Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC).

Following demands from students, parents, and various organisations, Chief Minister N Rangasamy had announced during the budget session that the 10% reservation — already applicable to medical courses — would be extended to all professional and undergraduate programmes. However, the official GO is still pending, raising concerns about possible disruptions to this year’s counselling schedule, stated a report by The New Indian Express.

In the 2023–24 academic year, Puducherry government introduced the 10% reservation in MBBS, BDS, and BAMS courses for government school students who studied from Class 1 to 12, as well as bore the full tuition fees. The success of the initiative led to calls for its expansion to courses like BTech, BCom, BSc agriculture, veterinary science, and nursing.

This year, 4,901 government school students cleared Class 12 CBSE exams after the curriculum shift in 2024–25. While 86.27% passed, many scored low marks in key subjects like physics, chemistry, and mathematics — making reservation even more crucial for fair access to high-demand courses. In comparison, private school students under both CBSE and Tamil Nadu syllabi recorded pass percentages of 97.24% and 98.53%, respectively.

Further, the delay over finalisation of the seat matrix for MBBS seats is also raising concerns. Every year, the seats in three private medical colleges are determined through a negotiation by a government committee led by the chief minister. Political parties and civil society activists have been demanding 50% seats under government quota through a legislation.

President of Puducherry CENTAC Students Parents’ Welfare Association N Narayanasamy stressed that any further delay could replicate the 2023 crisis, when several medical seats went unfilled due to a late GO and delayed seat matrix. Only a Supreme Court extension allowed CENTAC to complete the counselling, he said, and warned that the same risks apply to non-NEET courses this year unless prompt action is taken, stated the report by The New Indian Express.

With 13,528 applications already received for non-NEET courses and the draft rank list expected soon, the association urged that the GO for 10% reservation be issued immediately. They also reiterated the demand to allocate remaining reserved seats to students from classes 6 to 12, and sought the release of the long-pending financial aid under the Kamaraj financial assistance scheme for higher education, which has not been disbursed since 2022.

Parents and students are now pressing the Puducherry government to ensure timely and equitable access to higher education through swift, student-centric action.