The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has determined the admission capacity for the academic session 2023-24 in various courses to be conducted in the state and aided polytechnic institutions under the control of the Directorate of Technical Education, the government informed through an official statement. According to the approval received from the government, a total of 49,778 candidates can take admitted to diploma-level courses in these institutions. "The seating capacity has been determined keeping in view the interest of the students in various courses in the admission capacity in the session 2022-23. Moreover, it has been directed to ensure compliance with reservation rules during admissions on allocated seats. Under this, a 10 per cent reservation for the EWS quota will also be available on the allocated seats," read the order approved issued by the government. "The Yogi government's efforts to skill Uttar Pradesh's youth and connect them to employment opportunities involve training thousands of young individuals through polytechnic institutes each year. The aim is to encourage students to choose their desired careers by offering them admission to their preferred courses," officials said. Considering the interest level of students towards various courses, the government has determined the number of seats available, it said. The issued orders state that during the admission process, all institutions must ensure that admissions are limited to the designated seats. It must also be ensured that the institutions for which admission capacity has been determined, have received approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for the academic session 2023-24 for admission or registration, read the order. Prior to counselling on the designated 49,778 seats for the academic session 2023-24 in all government or aided polytechnic institutes, the status of approval from AICTE and all relevant information will be verified at the Secretary level by the Joint Entrance Examination Council. The Secretary of the Board of Technical Education will also confirm when registering students that all seats are recognized by AICTE. For the Pharmacy program, admission will only be granted if approval is obtained from PCI, New Delhi as per the designated admission capacity. According to the PCI circular, 10 per cent of the seats approved by PCI for the Pharmacy program are reserved for EWS category admission. As per the AICTE circular, 10 per cent of the total admission capacity is estimated for EWS category admission in other courses except pharmacy courses. For the Architectural Assistantship and Interior Design and Decoration programs, admission proceedings will be conducted according to the guidelines of the Council of Architecture. In accordance with the obtained approvals for admission capacity determination, an increase of 9881 seats has been made to ensure 10 per cent EWS reservation as per the total designated 49778 seats. Accordingly, for government and aided Polytechnic institutions, the total admission capacity under the general category is set at 44139. Under the Self-Financed Scheme, 2162 seats have been earmarked. Similarly, 35 seats under the Integrating Person with Disability in the Main Stream Technical and Vocational Scheme have been allocated, 2542 for the second shift (2 pm to 8.30 pm) and 900 seats for PPP mode institutions. The Yogi government has provided significant relief to specially-abled students pursuing technical education while residing in hostels. At the Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology for Handicapped in Kanpur, the food subsidy for male and female students has been increased from 250 to 1000 rupees. In this institute, 150 differently-abled students from all over the state live and study in diploma-aided courses. It is noteworthy that there was a demand for increasing the food subsidy for a long time. According to the proposal received as per this demand, the government has decided to increase the food subsidy by four times. (ANI)