Click to play videoMumbai: With several lakh students competing for limited seats in Mumbai colleges, the 50 per cent quota for minority students has stirred the debate of merit versus equal opportunity once again.
City colleges have been following the 50 per cent reservation for Christian students in minority-run institutions since the apex court orders. But the 60 per cent cut-off at one of India's leading institutes has clearly touched a raw nerve in Mumbai too.
"Keeping college seats only for the rich and affluent is unfair on minority students," vice-Principal, Wilson College, Sam Skariah said.
As the admission process kick starts across Mumbai colleges, the cut-off percentage at all the three levels of the merit list is lowered. And based on the number of applicants and performance for both reserved and open category, students from the open category argue that a lower cut-off obviously gives unfair advantage to those from reserved quota.
In fact, the quota controversy has even gained a political colour recently. Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) dashed off letters to minority-run colleges to give preference to local Maharashtrian students in the reserved quota seats. They warned colleges that the failure to do so could lead to an agitation.
And worried college authorities prefer to play it safe.
“We already give priority to local students,” said Principal, Burhani College, Farrukh Waris.
After witnessing the wide-spread student protests against 27 per cent OBC quota in post-graduate courses across India, a common concern among students still remains: will caste and religious reservations supersede merit-based selections.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
