Bombay High Court

minority educational institutions

Scheduled Castes

Scheduled Tribes

Other Backward Classes

Denotified Tribes

Without the backward class quota, about 60,000 seats for degree courses in the city will be up for grabs

SC upholdsorder discontinuing 25 per cent quota for backward class students.In a big relief for, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the state government challenging a Bombay High Court order doing away with reservation for backward classes in these colleges.After months of uncertainty, minority colleges will be able to resume admissions for the current academic year without the 25 per cent quota for students from, and Nomadic Tribes, in the open category seats.The first merit list was declared on June 19, but the second and the third lists were deferred by the state.The apex court’s decision, however, hasn’t gone down well with marginalised students who claim that the move will hamper their future prospects.According to the University of Mumbai, at approximately 310, minority colleges comprise nearly 50 per cent of the total strength of educational institutions in the city. Without the quota, nearly 60,000 seats will be up for grabs.“Nearly 70,000-80,000 students from marginalised groups will be affected. Neither the state, nor the varsity seems to be doing anything for them. It is a violation of their constitutional rights,” said Santosh Gangurde, vice-president, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena — MNS’s student outfit. “We respect the decision of the SC, but we will continue our fight.”Manoj Tekade, president, Prahar Vidyarthi Sanganthana , however, was critical of the SLP and said that it wouldn’t have worked as the change requires a constitutional amendment.“The High Court had based its order on an amendment [Article 15 (5)] in the Indian Constitution which can be changed only through a legislation in the parliament,” explained Ajay Tapkir, an advocate working with the student body.HC, in a landmark judgment in October 2017, had set aside a May 2001 circular issued by the Mumbai University seeking to bring in a 50 per cent quota for the reserved category students.The circular had been challenged by St Xavier’s College through its former principal Father JM Dias and the Maharashtra Association of Minority Educational Institutions.The MU circular had based its recommendations on a state government resolution of 1997, providing quota reservation in all institutions.The state had stayed degree college admissions after students registered their protests against not being given admissions under the quota in the first list.NCP supremo Sharad Pawar is likely to take up the issue with minister for human resource development Prakash Javadekar in the ongoing monsoon session. Last month, a student delegation had met with Pawar urging him to intervene on their behalf.Meanwhile, the University of Mumbai on Friday said that it will be seeking the advice of the Additional Solicitor General of India Atmaram Nadkarni to examine if there was another way to resolve the issue wherein the educational prospects of backward class students wasn’t compromised.“The constitutional amendment of Article 15 (5), which came into effect in 2006, poses a peculiar problem to Mumbai. There are fewer seats in government colleges as compared to minority institutions. Yes, the government policy on reservation needs to be implemented, but it cannot be done by squeezing minority institutions dry. There needs to be a serious review at the central level on the impact of excluding minority institutions from quota,” a state government official told Mirror.Soon after the SC judgment, the varsity announced the dates for the second and the third merit list: July 14 and July 18 respectively.