MUMBAI: Medical admissions in the state finally commenced on Thursday without the Maratha quota as the information brochure does not mention the Socially and Economically Backward Class quota, stayed by the SC. MBBS and BDS aspirants from the Maratha community, who may have to seek admissions in private institutes, are likely to get some fee relief from the state.
As a result of the delay, the state merit list will be released on November 13, a day after the deadline for reporting for all-India admissions.
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The state had to initiate the medical admission process as the Centre’s schedule was binding on all states. But it is still delaying a policy decision on the Maratha quota that will set in motion other admission processes, such as FYJC which is on hold for over two months. The state can’t have different reservation policies for different courses and therefore, it is logical to apply the same to all admissions and start the process soon to prevent further loss in the academic session.
The state is yet to take an official position on the Maratha quota and admissions to other courses, including FYJC, continue to be on hold.
Med admission process cut short due to delayed startOverall, 85% of the 6,600 MBBS seats and 2,676 BDS seats in government and private colleges will be available for admissions in the state’s centralised admission process.
Due to shortage of time and a delayed start, the admission process has been cut short this year. The state’s CET cell began registrations on Thursday. The state merit list will be released a day after the all-India admissions concludes. “This will be a problem for students on the borderline of the state cut-offs as they will not know where they stand vis-à-vis other students in the state merit list. They usually work out their admission probability based on their state merit ranks and accordingly decide whether to secure the all-India seat or to wait for the state allocation,” said Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative.
Another representative Jasmine Gogri said even while filling state preferences, not knowing the merit ranks could be a problem as students may not give their preferences in the right order based on their ranks.
Dr Pravin Shingare, former director of Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said announcing the state merit list after the first all-India round ends could be a problem for a section of state students. But, he added, it could be resolved in the second round, if students make their choices carefully. He said if the process is extended, the state will not be able to keep up with the Centre’s schedule, which is binding.
While some parents raised a doubt on skipping the physical document verification process, DMER directot Dr T P Lahane said that the documents are verified at the college level even in the all-India process and it will be the deans’ responsibility to ensure the claims are genuine.
Meanwhile, an official from the medical education department said a proposal by the minister is under consideration to reimburse the fees of meritorious Maratha students, who will lose seats in government colleges after the quota is scrapped. Maratha students who will have to secure a seat in private colleges will get some kind of fee relief, especially in professional courses such as medical and engineering, he added.
Virendra Pawar, a Maratha activist, said it will be the state’s responsibility to ensure that not a single student under the SEBC quota suffers.