India, Aug. 20 -- A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday flagged the "considerably low" enrolment of Other Backward Classes (OBC) students and the "abysmally low" presence of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in India's three private universities with Institution of Eminence (IoE) status and recommended a law making reservations mandatory in private higher educational institutions-27% for OBCs, 15% for SCs, and 7.5% for STs-in line with government norms.

The central government has granted IoE status to 20 institutions (10 public and 10 private), thereby giving them special recognition, greater autonomy, and financial support to achieve world-class standards.

The Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, chil...