Maratha quota row: State puts PG medical, dental admissions on hold
Govt exploring legal options to include SEBC quota this year despite SC ruling against it
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MUMBAI: The state government has put the admission process for postgraduate (PG) medical and dental admissions on hold till Sunday, as it looks at legal options by which reservation for Marathas under the socially and economically backward castes (SEBC) category may be retained despite the Bombay high court (HC) and Supreme Court (SC) saying the quota should not be applied to these courses this year. The government is also seeking to extend the deadline for PG medical and dental admissions from May 25 to June 15.
Following a directive from the state government on Monday, the Common Entrance Test (CET) cell put a seven-day stay on the admission process on Tuesday, when the first list of college allotments without the 16% quota for Marathas was expected. “Admissions of students admitted under the SEBC quota stands cancelled due to the HC verdict. However, the government is looking at legal options to reinstate the admissions of these students,” said TP Lahane, state director, medical education and research. A revised admission schedule is expected soon.
The government is also seek
ing to push the deadline for PG medical and dental admissions to June 15, by which time litigations related to the newly-introduced 10% quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) should be resolved. “Considering the decision to implement EWS quota in health science courses has also been challenged in court, the gov
ernment has decided to request the SC to extend the admission period,” read a letter from the government to the state CET cell. The Supreme Court on May 9 had rejected the Maharashtra government’s plea and upheld the HC verdict that said reservation for Marathas wouldn’t apply to PG medical and dental courses
this year. The apex court set May 25 as the deadline for admissions. Following this, the state CET cell started a fresh round of admissions, cancelling the first two rounds.
Around 200 Maratha students admitted to PG dental and medical courses, and activists have demanded the state issue an order to apply the SEBC quota in this academic year. The government has said it plans to issue an ordinance that will provide for the Maratha quota being applied to these courses in the academic year 2019-20, but is waiting for the general elections to end when the model code of conduct will be lifted. Edgard Kagan, US Consul General in Mumbai, who took over his diplomatic post less than two years ago, has become a prominent face in the city, often spotted in company of India Inc movers and shakers. But we were pleased to note that the Yale alum is making a concerted effort to integrate himself with everyday life. He was spotted earlier this week at the CEAT cricket awards and yesterday, he surprised many, as he undertook the quintessential local experience to be had in these parts: a journey from Mumbai to Pune on the Udyan Express which was documented with a series of photographs. These included Kagan arriving at the station at 7am (an hour early), sipping masala chai, ordering a vada pao, getting his ticket checked and “making friends with passengers”, before safely arriving at his destination. Perhaps, he will learn some Marathi next? As noted earlier, the Taj Palace hotel at Apollo Bunder occupies an important role in the life of Mumbai. So, this Tuesday, when Farhat Jamal, one of the hotel chain’s senior executives, retired after over three decades, the news created a stir. After all, Jamal had spent many years as the face of the group’s flagship hotel in Mumbai. “I joined the business as a young lad of all of 19 and spent my formative professional life on the shop floor of various Taj hotels,” he said in a social media post. We have first-hand knowledge of this: A few years after he’d joined the Taj group, a 20-something Jamal had been posted as the manager of Taj Mansingh, Delhi’s erstwhile rooftop Italian restaurant. This is where we recall meeting him for the first time, when, as an equally greenhorn Mumbai journalist venturing out to
Delhi for the first time on a story, we had to lunch alone at the eatery. Perhaps, noticing our unease, Jamal had gone out of his way to make us feel welcome. We recall thinking that he would go far in the world of hospitality. He had, going on to assume the hotel's top positions over the years, including as General Manager of Taj Coromandel, Chennai, and taking care of Queen of England’s visit when she had stayed there for three nights. So what now? “Travel, more reading, watching theatre and finding quality time for family and friends," he said, when we spoke yesterday, adding, “The idea is to give as much time possible to projects I find interesting like development of tourism, travel and hospitality, in India, and working on a social enterprise that will create jobs for the underprivileged from various sections of society, with focus on artisans and craftsmen," he said as he went on to his next innings.