Rebellion against merit-only rule

Shivdasani said on May 28 this year, the university had issued a circular stating that last year’s admission procedure should be followed. “The June 3 circular has caught us unawares.”

Though the South Indian Education Society (SIES) has still not made any legal moves, they have openly stated that they will continue to give preference to their own students for admissions to degree courses. The principal of SIES college, V Padmanathan, said on Tuesday: “The university has issued the circular on the basis of the May 5 high court judgment which states that merit should be the sole criterion along with prescribed guidelines if any for senior college admissions. But the government and the university have chosen not to give any specific guidelines.” Padmanathan added that “in all fairness, the state government should impose such rules for FYJC admissions. In fact, at FYJC level all the management quotas have been abolished and no seats are reserved for children of freedom fighters, people on transferable jobs and our staff.”

Reacting bitterly to the newly imposed admission rules, one of the trustees of Shri Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal, that runs Mithibai College, Chandrakant Sanghvi said: “I think the government thinks its existence will not be noticed if there is no confusion." Principals R T Sane of Ramnarain Ruia College (Matunga) and D B Kadam of Bhavan’s College (Andheri), however, have said they will follow the university circular.

Meanwhile, the deputy secretary of higher education, M A Sarpotdar, has warned that colleges ignoring the circular will be pulled up.