A day after the government received permission from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to promulgate an ordinance for Maratha reservation in postgraduate medical courses, the State Cabinet on Friday extended its approval to amend the Maharashtra State Reservation (of seats for admission in education institutions in the State and for appointments in public services and posts under the State) for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.
In a bid to pacify the general category students who will be affected following the promulgation of the ordinance, it has also approved to reimburse the fees to these students.
Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, who heads the Cabinet sub-committee on matters related to Maratha reservation, said that the ordinance has been issued to ensure no student from community is deprived of the admission process. “The ordinance will provide relief to those students who had already got admission under Maratha quota, but were affected after the process was stayed by the court,” he said.
The ordinance will amend the Section 16(2) of the SEBC Act which says that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to admissions in educational institutions where the admission process had been initiated before the commencement of the Act.
The State government will file caveats in the Bombay High Court and its Aurangabad and Nagpur Benches and the apex court to ensure the ordinance is not challenged.
Deadline extension
Mr. Patil said that the students from open category should seek management quota and the government will assist them by refunding the fees through scholarships. He added that the State government will approach the Supreme Court to extend the admission time frame from May 25 to 31. “We will also seek additional 213 seats in the medical courses,” he said.
In its May 9 verdict, the apex court struck down the 16% reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) students on PG seats this year. The State government on November 30, 2018 had passed a law reserving 16% seats for Maratha community under the SEBC category.
As per the court observation, since the admission process was initiated on November 3, the reservation under SEBC category cannot be granted for this year’s admissions in postgraduate medical courses.
