VCs Seek More

New Delhi, May 14 (UNI) Authorities were said tonight to have heard university and other heads on funds, faculty and facilities needed to effect 27 per cent higher education reservation for Other Backward Classes-- than Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

One delegate saw it not only as a step towards making Indian higher education more inclusive but also raising its Gross Enrolment Ratio from 10 per cent now to 15 per cent in three years.

Most delegates spoke of adding 18 per cent seats this year and similar instalments the next year and the year after, half of them for OBC students and the other half for mainstream students.

The meet presided over by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh came as hundreds of colleges, universities and other institutions across India grapple with admitting OBC students to seats reserved for them while adding as many ''unreserved'' seats.

There was no official word on the outcome of the meeting, but delegates said the HRD Ministry appeared to appreciate the participants' need for more funds and timely disbursements.

Delhi University Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental described the meeting as having been ''very positive.'' Indira Gandhi National Open University Vice Chancellor V N Rajasekharan Pillai said participants shared their preparedness-- for instance, having advertised to draw OBC students.

Even as the conference was under way, the Calcutta High Court was reported to have stayed for three weeks admission to Indian Institute of Management postgraduate courses following an aspirant's challenge to the reservation process.

One Ministry source indicated that any further deliberations may be subject to the court process.

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