Bangalore, May 14: The Centre is drafting a set of questions and answers for higher education institutions following the stay order by Calcutta High Court on a memorandum to introduce OBC quotas.

“The stay has caught us off guard. Even though we will seek a vacation of the stay, we are not too sure of what strategy to adopt. A Q&A is being drafted to help the institutes understand that while they cannot hold interviews or release lists, we do not see any bar in backroom admission work being continued,” an official said.

PTI quoted education minister Arjun Singh as saying the stay would not affect institutes other than IIM Calcutta.

However, officials at the IIMs in Ahmedabad and Bangalore however told The Telegraph that they had decided independently to put on hold plans to interview a fresh set of OBC candidates till the stay was vacated.

“Our understanding is that we cannot conduct any admission-related activity while the stay is in place,” an IIM Ahmedabad source said.

Neither the Centre nor IIM Calcutta had received a copy of the court order till late today.

It is learnt that Arjun, tired of repeated controversies surrounding OBC reservations, asked officials to find ways to “clear” the confusion.

“The minister is firm that we must go ahead with the quotas this year. He is confident that the Supreme Court’s clearance for the reservations is good enough to proceed with implementation. Incidents like these (the Calcutta High Court stay) are mere irritants, but he wants us to deal with them once and for all,” a senior official said.