‘Consider making NEET reservation more inclusive’

MADURAI: A meritorious medical aspirant, Soundarya from the Adi Dravidar community, was denied the benefit of 7.5 per cent reservation on grounds that though she did her Class XI and XII studies in a private school through government sponsorship under the Adi Dravidar welfare policy. 

It may be noted that the girl studied in a government school till Class X. When she approached the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court challenging the said rejection, Justice V Parthiban, dismissed the plea since the present provisions of the Act does not support the grant of the relief sought by the petitioner. 

However, he observed that the government was being unfair and advised it to rethink and find a solution to make the reservation more inclusive so that such injustice is not repeated in the coming academic years.

HC orders inquiry over shifting of sewage plant in Sathyamangalam
Chennai: Taking a serious view of Sathyamangalam Municipality officials shifting the construction site of a sewage plant near Bhavani river, the court has now ordered the municipal secretary to communicate its “extreme displeasure” to the highest levels of executive functioning.

The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy also ordered an inquiry by the municipal commissioner to probe whether the site for construction was changed for extraneous considerations. “... Even before the ink had dried on the last of the orders passed by this court, the municipality had done a volte-face,” the bench observed in its order.