Calcutta, June 19: Institutions offering BEd and MEd courses are yet to admit any student under the OBC quota this year allegedly because of the Bengal government's failure to strike a balance between state and central rules.

According to a state government rule, educational institutions will have to accommodate the 17 per cent OBC quota, introduced in 2013, without affecting the general category seats.

However, according to a guideline of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), which regulates teacher-training courses across the country, a BEd college must increase facilities if the number of students in a class exceeds 50.

If the number of seats is increased by even one, the number of teachers and the infrastructure must be doubled.

Officials in BEd and MEd colleges across the state, where the admission process began earlier this month, said they had been admitting OBC students in the general category.

"In a class of 50 BEd students, if 28 per cent are reserved for SCs and STs, it leaves 36 seats for general category applicants. But if the state government rule on OBC quota is to be followed, we have to increase the number of seats as the general category cannot be compromised with," an education department official said.

Increasing the seats for BEd and MEd courses has proved difficult for the colleges because of the NCTE guideline, which makes it mandatory to double the number of teachers and infrastructure.

According to NCTE rules, for every 50 BEd or MEd students in a class, there has to be at least eight full-time teachers, a minimum of 3,000sqm built-up area and at least one laboratory and one library.

If the student intake is increased even by one, the institution will have to recruit 16 full-time teachers, ensure 6,000sqm of built-up area and provide at least two laboratories and two libraries.

In Bengal, BEd and MEd courses are offered by 242 colleges and nine universities, respectively. Admissions, which began early this month, are likely to continue till mid-July.

Most of these colleges are affiliated to the West Bengal University Of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration. The remaining are under a clutch of varsities, including Burdwan University, North Bengal University, Vidyasagar University and Sidho Kanho Birsa University.

"Although the admission process started at the beginning of this month, not a single student has been taken in under the OBC quota so far," said a senior official of the newly set up West Bengal University Of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee said the government remained committed to the OBC quota, announced by Mamata Banerjee.

"I don't know anything like this.... We remain committed to the quota for OBC students. I will ask the higher education secretary why OBC students are not being allowed to seek admission through the 17 per cent quota earmarked for them," he said.

While it is true that the admission process is far from being over, sources in the BEd and MEd institutions said they had no plan of admitting students under the OBC quota this year.

An official said meeting the NCTE requirement to admit more than 50 students in a class would take time.

"Till then, let's see what we can do," the official said.

In 2013, the government introduced the West Bengal State Higher Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, making it mandatory for every university and undergraduate college to reserve 17 per cent seats for OBC students. The OBC quota is split into two categories - A (10 per cent) and B (7 per cent). Category A includes the more backward among the OBCs and Category B includes around 80 backward classes.

The institutions are supposed to prepare separate merit lists for SC, ST, OBC and general category students after the selection process.

"There is no plan to bring out a separate list of OBC students this year," a source in the West Bengal University Of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration said.#