Nashik institute to move apex court against 85% domicile quota

In a move to start the process of admission to private medical and factual institutes on Tuesday itself, the DMER announced the first merit list late on Monday night

Even as a Nashik-based dental institute decided to approach the Supreme Court with its demand for a larger share of seats for students from outside Maharashtra, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has decided to file a caveat in the Supreme Court to have a say in the matter before the court gives its final order.

This decision comes after the Bombay high court on Monday refused to interfere in the matter of domicile quota in private medical admissions. (HT File Photo)

This decision comes after the Bombay high court on Monday refused to interfere in the matter of domicile quota in private medical admissions, giving much-needed relief to medical and dental aspirants and their parents in Maharashtra. The decision on common admission for deemed institutions is still to be decided by the Supreme Court.

“The admission process has already been delayed enough and we don’t want to waste more time. The caveat will ensure the bench understands that we have to stick to the September 30 deadline and finish all admissions by the end of this month,” said an official from DMER. He added that the caveat will be filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.

Parents and students in the state welcomed the high court’s decision to stand by the domicile quota rule which reserves 85% of seats for students from the state. “This relief comes after months of fighting for what is rightfully ours. Kids have been living in fear of losing an academic year due to this confusion. They deserve this victory,” said Ruiee Kapoor, mother of a medical aspirant. She added that without wasting anymore time, the state should now focus on finishing the admissions process in time for institutes to start regular lectures by October 1.

The DMER on Monday evening released a circular, asking government medical and dental colleges in the state to surrender unclaimed seats from the 15% NRI quota to the state. These seats will be allotted to students by the DMER based on National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) scores.

While parents and students are happy about this added advantage for students still waiting for admissions, a criteria by the government clearly says that students who have already been allotted seats in government medical colleges this year cannot surrender their seats for admissions in other institutes, or end up paying a penalty of Rs 10 lakhs if they still choose to do so after September 20. “This means that if my daughter has been allotted a seat in a government medical college in one corner of the state, she cannot try her luck to find a seat in an institute closer to home. This is unfair,” said another parent.

As per the schedule, MBBS and BDS aspirants have already finished the process of counselling and form filling for private medical and dental institutes in state. “We should be able to release the first merit list by Tuesday and take the process forward from there. We hope to stick to the SC ordered September 30 deadline,” added the official from DMER.

In a move to start the process of admission to private medical and factual institutes on Tuesday itself, the DMER announced the first merit list late on Monday night. Students have been asked to finish the process of confirmation of admission at the earliest in order to be able to finish this process before September 30.

Timeline of events

April 2016: The apex court recalls its decision and paves the way for the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) to be held across all colleges

May 9, 2016: The state government files a review petition seeking either complete exemption from NEET or for it to be made applicable only from 2018

May 20, 2016: The Centre approves an ordinance, overturning the SC order that nullifies state-based entrance examinations

May 24, 2016: President of India signs an ordinance making state CET marks applicable for admissions only to government-run medical and dental institutes whereas private and deemed institutes seats will be allotted on the basis of NEET. 2017 onwards, NEET will be the only test applicable for MBBS and BDS admissions

June 1: MH-CET results announced, admissions to government run institutes begins

August 17: Results of NEET (phases I and II) announced and DMER issues a common admission schedule for allotment of seats in private as well as deemed institutes

August 23: Ahmednagar based deemed institute, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences files a writ petition in court seeking relief from centralised admissions as per state rules. Two days later three other deemed institutes filed another petition on similar grounds

August 30: Bombay HC rules in favour of deemed institutes, allows them to conduct their own admissions process and not follow the common admission schedule.

September 1: Nashik based private dental institute files a petition in Bombay high court seeking relief from admitting students on the basis of state quota for 85% of their seats. HC withholds the admission process until September 6.

September 6: HC postpones hearing by another day, and schedules the hearing for September 7. This further gets postponed to September 14 by HC as well as the SC

September 16: SC stays the admissions process to deemed medical and dental institutes in the state

September 19: While SC adjourns the case, Bombay HC rules against private institutes in state and refuses to interfere in the 85% domicile quota for this year. DMER announces admissions schedule for private institutes in the state.