The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the validity of the 40 per cent cut-off marks in entrance exam prescribed by the Medical Council of India (MCI) for Scheduled Tribe students seeking admission to medical and dental colleges.
A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and P Sathasivam has sought a response from the MCI, Dental Council of India and the Kerala Government on the issue.
Though the issue has been raised by some aggrieved students of Kerala, a decision by the apex court is bound to have its bearing on the rest of the country.
According to the petitioners, on account of the 40 per cent cut-off marks, reserved seats meant for tribals either remained unfilled or were filled by Scheduled Caste students or general category candidates, thus, frustrating the very purpose of reserving seats for the tribals.
Quoting statistics, the petition claimed that ST students who secured 90 per cent marks in the qualifying examination, were ranked behind the 10,000 top rankers in the entrance exam rendering them ineligible for admission as they had failed to achieve the 40 per cent cut-off marks.
The petitioners submitted that in the present academic year only two out of 51 seats allotted for the ST students in the medical stream were filled due to the cut-off marks being fixed at 40 per cent.
The petitioners said unlike other students, they did not have the wherewithal to afford high tuition fees to compete in the entrance exams for achieving the 40 per cent cut-off marks.
Hence, they wanted reduction in the cut-off marks to enable them successfully compete in the entrance exams.
A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and P Sathasivam has sought a response from the MCI, Dental Council of India and the Kerala Government on the issue.
Though the issue has been raised by some aggrieved students of Kerala, a decision by the apex court is bound to have its bearing on the rest of the country.
According to the petitioners, on account of the 40 per cent cut-off marks, reserved seats meant for tribals either remained unfilled or were filled by Scheduled Caste students or general category candidates, thus, frustrating the very purpose of reserving seats for the tribals.
Quoting statistics, the petition claimed that ST students who secured 90 per cent marks in the qualifying examination, were ranked behind the 10,000 top rankers in the entrance exam rendering them ineligible for admission as they had failed to achieve the 40 per cent cut-off marks.
The petitioners submitted that in the present academic year only two out of 51 seats allotted for the ST students in the medical stream were filled due to the cut-off marks being fixed at 40 per cent.
The petitioners said unlike other students, they did not have the wherewithal to afford high tuition fees to compete in the entrance exams for achieving the 40 per cent cut-off marks.
Hence, they wanted reduction in the cut-off marks to enable them successfully compete in the entrance exams.
No comments:
Post a Comment