Members of Parliament (MP) will no longer be able to recommend names for admission in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) as the MP quota has been scrapped by the Union government, as per the admission guidelines for 2022-23 and beyond.
The “special provisions” for granting admissions to children of education ministry employees, children and dependent grandchildren of MPs and serving or retired KV employees, the discretionary quota of school management committee chairman among others have also been removed, as per a report in The Indian Express.
As per an official of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, the autonomous body under the education ministry that is incharge of running KVs, the revised guidelines have been issued after a review of special provisions for admissions.
Via the MP quota, each MP could recommend ten students for admission in Classes I to IX at the commencement of each academic year. Under the rules, these names would need to be from the constituency of the MP.
The quota was introduced in the year 1975 as a special dispensation scheme where MPs, 543 in Lok Sabha and 245 in Rajya Sabha, could collectively recommend up to 7,880 names. In the past, the quota was withdrawn at least twice but was restored.
As per the official data, 7,301 admissions were made in the year 2021-22 under the MP's quota.
Previously, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister, had halted the admissions through the discretionary quota meant for education ministers. In this category, there were 12,295 admissions made in the year 2020-21.
The special provisions for the admissions for children of recipients of Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra; recipients of the National Bravery Award; 15 children of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) employees; children orphaned due to Covid-19, children of central government employees who died in harness; children who have shown special talent in fine arts have been retained, as listed in a report by The Indian Express.
Around 14,35,562 students are enrolled in 1,248 KVs across the country. The admissions made through the special provisions are said to be over and above the designated class strength.
