Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is in the process of introducing a new 5% supernumerary quota for wards of its regular employees including teaching and non-teaching staff.

While the university has previously reserved a limited number of seats for wards of non-teaching employees, this is the first time it is proposing to extend such a quota to wards of teaching staff.

The proposal was approved by the university’s Academic Council (AC) last month and is set to be taken up at the Executive Council meeting scheduled for April 15. The recommendation was made by an advisory committee on admissions, which suggested implementing the 5% quota from the 2026-27 academic session for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

According to the minutes of the committee’s meeting in February, presented to and cleared by the AC on March 18, candidates seeking admission under the supernumerary quota must still meet the minimum qualifying marks in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

As per existing admission guidelines, a handful of seats were earmarked for wards of non-teaching staff. While it remains unclear whether that provision will be discontinued, the proposed quota seeks to include wards of teaching staff, non-teaching staff, and employees who died in service. Sources say the existing and proposed quotas are likely to be merged.

The recommendations state that fractional seats will be rounded up to the next whole number, and a minimum of one seat and a maximum of 5% of seats will be allocated per course or programme.

Aditi Mishra, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), who has been rusticated for two semesters over alleged vandalism, said, “It is one thing to have a quota for wards of non-teaching employees such as sanitation workers. But a quota for wards of professors, who are mostly privileged and have access to English, a marker of this privilege, is not needed in an institute like JNU, and could eat into the share meant for non-teaching staff.”

Ms. Mishra added that it will eventually serve as a way for the administration to bring in “people of its choosing” and “secure their future”.