Thiruvananthapuram: Finally, the government has acknowledged the Plus One seat shortage in Malappuram and has constituted a two-member committee to address it. The seat shortage has provoked protests from a cohort of students and parents. General Education Minister V. Sivankutty announced on Tuesday that a special two-member committee will be formed to resolve the crisis.
The committee consists of the Higher Secondary Joint Director and the Malappuram District Education Officer. It has been stated that temporary batches will be allocated to resolve the crisis, as the existing batches are already full. The number of additional batches will be determined based on the panel’s recommendations. The committee is required to submit its report by July 5. The minister announced this plan of action after discussions with student representatives on Tuesday.
According to the minister, Science stream seats are in surplus in all seven Taluks of Malappuram. He mentioned a shortage of seats in Commerce (3,405) and Humanities (3,816) streams. In addition to the 7,478 seat shortage in Malappuram, there were shortages of 252 and 1,757 seats in Kasaragod and Palakkad, respectively. The shortage in other districts will be addressed during the supplementary allotment stage. Applications for supplementary allotment will be open from July 2-5, with allotments starting on July 8.
Student organizations, transcending party affiliations, took to the streets in protest against the shortage of Plus One seats in Malappuram. The Muslim Students Federation, the student wing of the Muslim League, stated that the shortage ballooned to 32,000 after the third allotment.
