Two-member panel set up to resolve Plus One crisis in Malappuram, additional batches to be allotted

Thiruvananthapuram: A special two-member committee will be constituted to resolve the Plus One crisis in Malappuram district, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Tuesday. The committee will comprise the Higher Secondary Joint Director and Malappuram District Education Officer. Temporary batches will be allotted to solve the crisis as the existing batches are already in full capacity. A decision on the number of additional batches would be taken based on the panel's recommendations. The committee has to submit the report by July 5. The minister announced the plan of action after discussions with student representatives on Tuesday.

The minister added that Science stream seats were in surplus in all seven taluks of Malappuram. There is a shortage of seats in commerce (3,405) and humanities (3,816) streams, he said. Besides the 7,478 seat shortage in Malappuram, there was a shortage of 252 and 1,757 seats in Kasaragod and Palakkad, respectively. The shortage in other districts will be rectified in the supplementary allotment stage, Sivankutty said. Application for supplementary allotment will be open from July 2-5 and the allotment will begin on July 8.

Cutting across party lines, student organisations had taken to the streets in protest against the shortage of Plus One seats in Malappuram. Muslim Students Federation, the students wing of the Muslim League, had said the shortage ballooned to 32,000 after the third allotment.