Of the 254 seats belonging to the state quota for private unaided institutions, only 37 remain for open category students instead of 61, the parents have claimed. (Representational Image)TWO DAYS before the admission procedure for postgraduate medical students starts, several issues raised by parents remain unresolved and could affect open category students. While the merit list is slated to be released on April 5, students are expected to join colleges between April 6 and April 12.
On Tuesday, several students and their parents had held a silent protest outside the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), alleging that seats for open category were skewed. The parents have contended that the seat matrix of private colleges, as issued by the state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell, provides fewer seats for open category students than mandated.
Of the 254 seats belonging to the state quota for private unaided institutions, only 37 remain for open category students instead of 61, the parents have claimed.
This is because the state CET cell has calculated seats according to a government resolution issued by DMER, which stated that the seats be calculated according to the total number of available seats across institutions in Maharashtra — 469 in this case.
Parents argue that the seats should be calculated based on the total number of available seats in the state quota. For example, for EWS quota, the seats have been calculated according to the intake of students in the state quota.
State CET cell commissioner Anand Rayate said, “We are an implementing body and can only function according to the directives of HC and DMER. A report on this has been sought from DMER.”
DMER chief T P Lahane said that the GR is in accordance with the directives issued by the general administration department (GAD) last November.
On March 7, many parents had approached the Bombay High Court seeking interim relief on the implementation of EWS quota. At the hearing on Wednesday, the court directed petitioners to withdraw a similar petition filed before the Supreme Court in order to pursue the case with the HC.
Government pleader Akshay Shinde said that the state will file an affidavit giving its justification only after the petition from the SC is withdrawn.
On March 28, the HC had refused to stay the implementation of Maratha reservation in the process of postgraduate medical admission. Secretary (GAD) Shivaji Daund said he will be able respond to the issue on Thursday.
