Row over 11.25% SEBC quota in higher edu

A day after the Odisha govern-ment announced 11.25 per cent reservation for students from Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) in higher education, the state’s three major political parties Thursday accused each other of denying social justice to a large section of the population.

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Both the opposition BJD and Congress came down heavily on the state’s BJP government, accusing it of not making any provision of reservation for SEBC students in technical education such as engineering and medical studies.

The BJP rejected the allega-tion and claimed that it is the first government in Odisha which has made provision for SEBC students.

“There was zero per cent reservation for SEBC students in higher education during the previous BJD government's 24-year rule. This is the first time 11.25 per cent reserva-tion has been provided. Those who denied this earlier have no moral right to criticise the BJP government,” Higher Ed-ucation Minister Suryabanshi Suraj told reporters.