The central government has cleared a total of Rs 1,496 crore to 30 central universities for the implementation of the 10 per cent quota for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the general category from the year 2019-20, reports The Times of India.

For the implementation, the central universities will be expanding their seats intake by 25 per cent in total. Many such universities will be implementing the rise in seat intake in two phases- 10 per cent rise in 2019-20 academic session, and the additional 15 per cent in the subsequent academic session of 2020-21.

While the universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are likely to receive their letters of sanction soon, many others like Delhi University (DU) and Viswa Bharti have already received their letters of sanction from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD).

It should be noted that the total number of seats across the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) stands at 12,000 at the undergraduate level. With the implementation of the EWS quota, the same is expected to increase to about 17,000 seats at the end of the second phase of seat expansion.