New Delhi: The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said that 27 percent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has been implemented at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) from the current academic session.

The 27 pc quota reservation will be fully implemented over a period of three years in a phased manner, the Ministry said.

This year, with the addition of 37 seats, the total number of seats has increased to 115.

IIMC has not received any additional funds from the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry for increasing its seats like other higher education institutions.

Interestingly, the funds for the institute have been slashed by 10 pc in view of the austerity drive announced by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

It has become mandatory for all higher education institutions under the HRD Ministry and Agriculture and Health Ministries to implement the 27 pc OBC quota reservations from 2008-09.

The institute has an annual budget of Rs.6 crores. "We conduct short-term programmes from which we earn and whatever else we need, we get it from the HRD Ministry", said Stuti Kacker, Director IIMC.

Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism (Print, Radio and TV) and Advertising & Public Relations are offered by the institute besides courses like Developmental Journalism.