Undergraduate medical aspirants across Maharashtra have called for a state-wide rally on August 4 to protest against reservation in higher education going beyond the Supreme Court set limit of 51%, which they said affects the future of those applying for open category seats.
Parents and students from Amravati, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik and Pune, among others, will be participating in the protest rally, even as the Bombay HC is yet to take a stand on inclusion of more quotas, such as the 13% Maratha quota, in professional courses. “Our aim is to save meritorious students from losing out just because they don’t have a certificate to prove social status. The fact that caste and social status is getting an upper hand over merit is unacceptable and we will keep fighting for our rights,” said Dhanashree Waghmode, an undergraduate medical aspirant.
Last month, the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare announced new supernumerary seats in government medical colleges (GMC) across the country.
In Maharashtra itself, 970 new seats have been added in 20 GMCs. While proposals of new colleges were already accepted by the Medical Council of India, the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (BoG-MCI) proposed an increase in the number of MBBS seats under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota for academic year 2019-20.
“Addition of supernumerary seats is a good idea and we accept it but despite the increase, we will still be entitled to just about 8-10% of seats. The law is clear that reservations cannot go beyond 51% and here we are, when almost 90% of seats are for reserved categories,” said another student.
The first seat allotment list for UG medical and dental courses in the state was released by the state Common Entrance Test cell on July 12, the second list is expected over the weekend.
“All seats have not been allotted yet and we want to make sure our point is heard by the authorities before all seats are filled,” said Sudha Shenoy, a parent.
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