sonali dasranchi notwithstanding the huge exodus of students from jharkhand for higher studies to institutions in other states the implementation of the governments reservation policy in technical and commercial institutes has come as a further deterrent for engineering and medical aspirants to pursue specialised studies in their home statethe state government in contradiction to supreme court directives for quota of not above 50 per cent in job and education fixed the quota at 73 per cent apparently keeping the sentiments of tribals and backwards in mind while this step too did not satisfy the beneficiaries a pil was filed in the jharkhand hc final hearing of which is pending with the exception of tamil nadu and orissa the sc order was implemented in all statesthough the state government is yet to make recruitments a circular of the states personnel department in november 2001 said that the governments reservation of 73 per cent would be applicable in all technical and commercial institutesthese include the birla institute of technology at sindri regional institute of technology jamshedpur medical and family welfare rajendra medical college hospital pataliputra medical college dhanbad and mahatma gandhi medical college jamshedpur pharmacy institutes nursing colleges and polytechnics among othersa joint entrance examination would be conducted by the state in the first week of july students who come under the general category are however upsetmy cutoff marks for admission would be 60 per cent and above while for students who come under the reserved category the cutoff could come down to 30 per cent said joy banerjee as aspirantjoys fears were confirmed by the secretary science and technology j b tubid who said that the cutoff would vary till the time the seats for scst candidates were filled adding there was not much difference in the cutoff marks of general and reserved students the former being 60 per cent while in the latter it could come to 4045 per cent hrd minister chandra mohun singh does not agree that the state is driving away students rather he felt it was trying to hold them back