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Election Commission gives a ray of hope to 250 SEBC medical aspirants

It has approved state govt's plea to issue an ordinance to amend SEBC Act, 2018

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Admissions of 250 students in PG medical and dental courses are expected to be restored for 2019-20. They had been protesting in Azad Maidan for the same
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Giving a ray of hope to 250 Maratha students whose admissions to PG medical and dental courses were cancelled for the academic year 2019-20, the Election Commission of India has given its approval to issue an ordinance to amend the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018. The state cabinet will hold a special meeting on today to clear the ordinance which will be forwarded to the Governor C Vidyasagar Rao for his consent.

The government will amend Section 16(2) of the SEBC Act, 2018 to allow the Maratha quota to be implemented even for courses whose admissions began before the Act came into place. The section 16(2) reads: "The provisions of this Act shall not apply to admissions in educational institutions and the cases in which the admission process hasalready been initiated before the commencement of this Act and such cases shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of law and the Government orders, as they stood before such commencement."

Speaking to DNA, state education minister Girish Mahajan said, "The amendment will pave way for the implementation of all admission process that has already started in the academic year 2019-20. This will be applicable for the admission process for PG medical and dental courses which had started before the implementation of SEBC Act from November 30, 2018." He said the government and the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have been quite sympathetic towards the cause of students.

Mahajan informed that the government, on Thursday, sent a communication to the Medical Council of India with a plea to allocate more seats for PG medical and dental coursesin Maharashtra. This is expected to give relief to students from open category seeking admission for PG medical and dental courses in the state.

The ordinance was necessitated after the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court had cancelled all admissions for PG medical and dental courses. The HC?had ruled the state government's March 8 notification pertaining to SEBC quota in health science courses will not apply to PG dental and medical admissions, as the registration process for their respective National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Tests (NEET) had begun on October 16 and November 2, respectively.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court had dismissed the state government's special leave petition and ruled that the SEBC quota was dismissed from this year's post-graduate medical admissions in the state. While upholding the HC verdict, the apex court ordered that the Maratha community students can be accommodated in vacant seats, if any.

Thereafter, the State CET cell issued an admission cancellation notice and asked the admitted candidates from the community to collect their original documents and paid requisite fees from the institutes. Maratha students then launched an agitation pressing for restoration of their admissions. The government extended the new admission process by a week.

Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) had appealed to the state government to use powers under section 17(1) to provide relief to the agitating students. The government hasaccepted MKM's demand in this regard. MKM activist and PG student Dr Shivaji Bhosale said they will await the state cabinet decision and later call of their agitation.

ADMISSION SAGA

May 2 – Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC cancelled admissions of 250 Maratha students for PG medical and dental courses under SEBC Act, 2018

May 6 – Maharashtra Govt moved to the Supreme Court challenging the HC decision

May 6 – Maratha students whose admissions were cancelled launched agitation at Azad Maidan. They met CM seeking govt intervention

May 10 – SC dismissed special leave petition upholding the HC decision

May 13 – Students met medical education minister Girish Mahajan demanding use of special powers to restore their admissions

May 14 – MKM launched sit in dharna to extend their support to the agitating students

May 15 – Maha Govt sought EC's nod to issue an ordinance

May 16 – EC clears state's plea, cabinet to meet on Friday to take a decision in this regard

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