By team abhyaspeeth 
Abhyspeeth Education Desk
Mumbai : In a major shift affecting students seeking admission to First Year Junior College (FYJC), the Maharashtra government has introduced a new rule that will change how seats are allotted in minority colleges. Until now, minority colleges in the state – run by communities like Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Sindhis – followed a specific admission pattern. Out of all seats, 50% were reserved for students from the respective minority community, and 5% were allocated under the management quota. The remaining 45% of seats were offered through open category admissions, allowing general students to compete for them purely on merit.
However, from the academic year 2025–26 onwards, this open category route will no longer apply to these remaining seats. Instead, the government has decided that reservation rules will now also apply to the remaining 45% seats in minority colleges, just as they do in regular junior colleges.
This decision was taken based on the recommendation of the Minority Development Department and is now being implemented by the School Education Department. A government resolution (GR) issued on May 6 did mention this change, but it lacked clarity. The confusion deepened when a follow-up circular released on June 2 completely left out this point. As a result, junior colleges, students, and parents were left uncertain about how admissions would proceed.
The updated rules will now ensure that the remaining non-minority seats in these colleges are distributed as per the standard category-wise reservation system. As per official information from the Directorate of Education, this reservation will be visible in the first round of FYJC admissions itself, directly on the official admission website.
The category-wise breakup of reservations on these seats is as follows:
Scheduled Castes (SC): 13%
Scheduled Tribes (ST): 7%
Vimukta Jatis (VJ-A): 3%
Nomadic Tribes (NT-B): 2.5%
Nomadic Tribes (NT-C): 3.5%
Nomadic Tribes (NT-D): 2%
Other Backward Classes (OBC): 19%
Special Backward Category (SBC): 2%
Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC): 10%
Economically Weaker Section (EWS): 10%
According to officials, this system will be followed from the first merit list itself, depending on the availability of students in each category. If reserved category students are not available to fill these seats, the vacant ones may still be converted into open category seats later, as per the usual process.
This development is particularly important for students from reserved categories who earlier had limited chances in minority colleges. It now opens up more opportunities across these institutions while ensuring that the reservation policy is applied uniformly.
As the admission portal now reflects this change, students and parents are advised to stay updated and check the seat availability category-wise before applying. Educational institutions, too, have been instructed to align their admission process accordingly and provide clarity to applicants.