In a major relief to the students of open category seeking admission to under-graduate (UG) or post-graduate (PG) medical courses, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the decrease in medical seats in open category due to reservation for various social communities in the state will be compensated by increasing the number of seats.
He was interacting with a delegation of ‘Save merit, save nation’, which also included medical professionals from Nagpur, at Sahyadri guest house in Mumbai.
He also said that the open category Maharashtra students who fail to get admission in medical colleges for MBBS or post-graduation due to the reservations introduced under the Socially and Economically Backward Category (SEBC) from this year can take admission in private medical colleges and government will reimburse the difference in fees.
The state has enforced the 12 per cent reservation in education and 13 per cent in jobs to Maratha community under the SEBC category. With this, the total reservations in the state have gone up from the existing 52 per cent to 64 per cent in education.
This would reduce open category seats in state government colleges by approximately 104 in PG and 314 in MBBS.
“The government was already giving 50 percent tuition fee reimbursement in 604 courses to the economically weaker open category students, under the Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Educational Reimbursement Scheme. Besides, OBC and open category students get a scholarship for education in foreign universities,†Fadnavis told the delegation.
The meeting was attended by CM’s Principal Secretary Bhushan Gagarani, Secretary of Medical Education and Medicine department Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, Eye specialist and Dean Dr Tatyarao Lahane, and delegation members Dr Sanjay Deshpande, Dr Anup Marar, Anil Laddhad.
Dr Sanjay Deshpande who spearheaded the campaign in Nagpur and nearby districts stated that the delegation had a positive meeting with the chief minister. He has promised to resolve the grievances of the open category students.
Save Merit Save Nation is an informal group in which students, parents, doctors, and many professionals are associated with an aim to save the merit-based system in our country, said Dr Deshpande who is one of the members of the group.
“We want that the government should understand the current scenario and take steps to create a balance in education system by increasing number of seats or keeping the reservation quota to 50% only,†he added.
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