Chandigarh, Feb 10: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the Punjab government to implement the 25 per cent EWS quota in schools “in letter and spirit,” ending a decade-long wait for thousands of students.
Justice Kuldip Tiwari issued the directive after hearing a petition regarding the continued denial of admissions to children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The court noted that despite earlier judgments and the notification of a standard operating procedure in August 2025, many applications remained pending. The state has now been given a twenty-one-day window to show concrete progress in enforcing the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
“Children from economically weaker sections would get 25 per cent reservation in all schools in the state at the entry level from the next academic session,” Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains noted following the court’s intervention.
The petitioners mentioned that a controversial 2011 rule had stalled the process for years by requiring children to first attempt admission in government schools. The High Court had struck down this requirement in February 2025, directing the state to open private unaided schools to EWS candidates without such conditions. Counsel Satyam Sharda mentioned that the court is now monitoring the situation closely to ensure that the authorities do not further delay the process.
Officials mentioned that based on enrollment trends, nearly three lakh children enter the first grade in Punjab every year, meaning the mandatory quota should benefit tens of thousands of families annually. The state mentioned that the digital infrastructure is now in place to handle these applications transparently, aiming to fulfill the statutory requirements that have been stalled since 2010.
