Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde on Saturday directed all universities in the State not to award private scholarships that set pre-conditions contravening the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
Mr. Tawde said that academic merit should be the criterion for awarding scholarships and gold medals to students. He said even awards instituted by private donors should be awarded based on merit and not “other extraneous considerations or conditions”.
The State has directed universities not to discriminate against students and infringe on their Constitutional rights while making a shortlist for awarding private scholarships.
Mr. Tawde issued the order following the uproar over a scholarship awarded by the Savitribai Phule Pune University only to students who were “vegetarians and teetotallers”. The Maharishi Keertankar Shelar Mama Gold Medal was instituted in 2006 and is sponsored by a private donor.
To be considered for the award, a student had to fulfil 10 pre-conditions, including practising yoga and following the tenets of Indian culture in daily life.
The university has now reportedly withdrawn the circular it issued on October 31 listing the eligibility criteria. The varsity has also asked the sponsor to remove the controversial pre-conditions.
Politicians were quick to denounce the biased nature of the award. Supriya Sule, MP and Nationalist Congress Party leader, tweeted: “Shocking disappointing decision by Pune University - so proud of education in our state. What has happened to our universities? Please focus on education not food”.
Shiv Sena’s youth leader Aaditya Thackeray, after speaking to Pune University’s Vice-Chancellor, tweeted: “Such mandates of food habits must not be allowed.”
Film-maker Rakesh Sharma wrote on Twitter: “In a country where 71% are non-vegetarians, why this reservation for the 29% vegetarians? Next year, the gold medal to be offered only to those who consume Gaumutra and Gobar? Has the University lost its mind?”
This is the second incident in Pune where insistence on food habits have stirred controversy. In September, a senior government scientist with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) came under flak from activists and social outfits in the city for lodging a case against her cook for allegedly ‘impersonating’ as a Brahmin since May 2016 and lying about her caste.
