Cuttack, Oct. 1: Orissa High Court today earmarked 15 per cent of the total intake of private engineering colleges in Odisha as management quota and NRI quota seats.

The court gave the private engineering colleges the liberty to fill up 10 per cent of the seats under management quota by conducting their respective counselling, but under the supervision of the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) Committee.

The remaining five per cent of the seats will be filled under NRI quota by the private engineering colleges following All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) guidelines, the court ruled. The guidelines say the private engineering colleges are to admit students in NRI quota after seeking permission from the AICTE.

The single bench of Justice Sanju Panda gave the ruling while disposing of a petition challenging reduction in the NRI quota seats from 15 per cent to five per cent of the total intake of private engineering colleges by the Odisha government this year. The management quota was within the NRI quota.

Orissa Private Engineering College Association (Opeca) had challenged the decision.

On June 28, Justice Sanju Panda had issued an interim stay order on reduction in the NRI quota and directed the OJEE Committee-2012 for conducting counselling for 85 per cent of the seats in private engineering colleges. The future of the rest — 15 per cent of the seats — will depend on the final outcome of the writ petition, the interim order had said.

The high court ruling on Opeca’s petition assumes significance as it paves the way for admission by the private engineering colleges almost without counselling by the OJEE Committee.

The 92 private engineering colleges in Odisha have a sanctioned strength of nearly 38,000 seats.

The OJEE Committee-2012 had stipulated: “In a private professional educational institution other than minority institution not exceeding 5 per cent of the approved intake may be filled up by NRI from the merit list.”

The cut in NRI quota had irked private engineering colleges in the state. Opeca had moved Orissa High Court seeking relief on the ground that the cut in the NRI quota would hurt private colleges badly as they are already hard pressed with the number of engineering seats exceeding demand.

The state government contended that the OJEE Committee was only following guidelines of the AICTE.

According to AICTE guidelines, technical institutions are to be permitted by a competent authority to admit NRI students up to a maximum of 5 per cent of the total sanctioned strength.

AICTE had introduced the 5 per cent quota norm in 2010 by substituting 15 per cent of the sanctioned intake as prescribed by it in the preceding years.