Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.
| Photo Credit: S.S. KUMAR
The Puducherry government has sought the intervention of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in implementing 25% reservation for local students of the Union Territory in all the courses offered at the Pondicherry University.
During a meeting with the Vice President, who is on a two-day visit to Puducherry, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy submitted a memorandum urging his intervention as Chancellor of the University to implement the reservation in all the courses being offered currently and in the future.
Recalling the decision to provide reservation for Puducherry students in admission to courses at the university in 1997, the Chief Minister said such a decision was taken by the academic council and executive committee considering popular demand.
Initially, the reservation was extended to 8 courses and subsequently was increased to 18 academic programmes. “However, when more and more professional, prestigious and job-oriented courses were started in the University, the reservation was not extended. This denial sowed seeds of discontentment in the minds of the youth of the Union Territory,” the Chief Minister said in the memorandum.
Justifying the rationale behind the demand, the Puducherry Assembly had adopted a resolution demanding 25% reservation of seats in all the 64 courses provided by the varsity.
Also, a three-member committee had recommended a uniform reservation in all the courses. The academic council had accepted the recommendation in 2013-14. However, no decision has been taken yet to implement the reservation, he said.
Published – June 16, 2025 12:23 am IST