Private, deemed institutes act against domicile reservation

STATE GOVERNMENT HAD ANNOUNCED TO INTRODUCE 67% DOMICILE RESERVATION

A day after HT reported the state government’s decision to introduce 67% domicile reservation in private and deemed medical and dental institutes in Maharashtra, the institutes are making their displeasure public.

While a group of private institutes are planning to speak with the government about this decision, others are gathering support of private and deemed medical institutes from across the country in order to file a nationallevel intervention, seeking exemption from state controlled admissions.

“There should be just one criteria for admission — merit. A student’s caste, creed or place of birth should have no stake on an education seat. The government can go about making reservations for government-run institutes but not on private and deemed institutes,” said Kamal Kishore Kadam, president of the Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges.

He added that the government should have no stake on private and deemed medical institutes, especially since they don’t invest in them.

According to a government resolution (GR) released by the medical education department on Thursday evening, the state has decided to keep aside more than 67% of seats in private and deemed institutes for candidates with the state domicile. Also, for the first time 25% of the seats in deemed medical and dental universities will be reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Vimukta Jati, Nomedic Tribes (VJNT) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

“The government talks about equality and zero-bias admissions, and then introduces such biases. Instead, the government’s concern should be to ensure fair and transparent admissions,” said Kadam. He added that they are planning to organise a meeting with state government officials in next week.

Meanwhile, deemed institutes are not pleased with the introduction of social reservation by the state government for undergraduate and post graduate medical and dental admissions. “This kind of government control is uninvited and against our deemed status. We will gather support from other institutes from across the country and plan a national-level intervention soon,” said a spokesperson of a state-based deemed institute.

Two BEST drivers have been arrested for allegedly raping a woman in Ulhasnagar.

The police said the complain ant knew the two men as they lived in the same area.

According to the police, the woman, a home-maker from Ulhasnagar, approached the accused as she was in need of some money.

In her complaint, the woman told the police that after she asked them for money, they called her to one of the accused’s home one afternoon.

The accused then allegedly assaulted her and asked her to undress. When she screamed for help and tried to escape, they allegedly threatened her with a knife, the police said.

“The woman told us that the two men took turns to rape her and both times, videos of the crime were shot,” said a police officer from the Hill Line police station. “They let her go, but warned her that the videos will be circulated if she spoke about the crime to anyone,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.

Both the accused have been arrested and have been remanded in police custody till May 5. We found out that they both worked as drivers for BEST. We have sent them and the woman for a medical test,” said Mohan Waghmare, senior police inspector.