New Delhi (PTI): The 27 per cent quota for OBC students in Central institutions of higher learning, including IITs and IIMs, would be introduced in phases, HRD Minister Arjun Singh said here Thursday.

Reacting to the apex court order upholding the 27 per cent quota for OBC students in institutes of higher learning, including IITs and IIMs, he said the Central Educational Institutions Act clearly says that institutes can introduce the 27 per cent reservation within three years.

As per the Act, the number of seats in non-reserved category in any institute will not be cut down and allocated seats for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes would also remain unchanged. And to keep the arithmetic intact in an institute with a capacity of hundred, the enhanced number would be around 154.

"The deadline is, however, the current academic session for those institutes which are prepared with the infrastructural support. For other institutions, there is a three year period to work it out," Singh said.

"Facilities is the only limiting factor that can restrict the implementation of court orders in the institutes," he said