New Delhi, Oct 14 The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Government to fill all vacant seats in central educational institutions for Other Backward Classes (OBC) with General Category students by October.

The apex court said that allowing vacant reserved seats to be carried over to the next year would be a waste of a precious resource.

The court also stated that the cut-off marks for OBC candidates cannot be lowered beyond 10 per cent from that of general category students.

On September 29, the Supreme Court had disapproved the Government's plan to keep vacant for at least three years the seats reserved for backward category students in the state-run higher educational institutions in case quota seats do not get filled. (ANI)