Meritorious miss out while some benefit due to quota: HC

Meritorious miss out while some benefit due to quota: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  22.11.2020 

Knowledgeable and deserving students are not able to avail themselves of opportunity in education while students who could not make it on merit but belong to a reserved category enjoy the opportunities, the Madras high court has said.

Noting that ‘reservation in higher education has created differences between different sections of the society’, Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana said: “Due to this (reservation), many students are unable to chase their dreams and succeed. No doubt it is true that the depressed and oppressed people should be given an opportunity for upliftment, without any compromise in quality in higher education.”

The judge made the observations while disposing of a plea moved by R S Poorvi, an MBBS graduate who had applied for an EWS certificate to secure a PG medical seat under the 10% EWS quota. Egmore tahsildar rejected the application on grounds that the petitioner’s annual family income was more than ₹8 lakh, the ceiling to qualify for the quota. The petitioner has moved the present plea challenging the rejection.

The judge accepted the petitioner’s explanation that her father did not have any source of income and that the tahsildar erred in assuming her father’s income to be ₹1.5 lakh.

Acceding to the explanation and ordering issuance of EWS certificate to her, the judge said, “Many people are from the forward community but financially backward, their due place should not be denied on account of reservation, which is the object of introducing EWS reservations.”

People such as the petitioner, who have scored well in exams through hard work, are given a feeling that they are not given the same treatment and criteria of selection though they belong to the economically weaker section, the court said. Allowing her plea, the court said, “The petitioner, who is otherwise competent, is in a financially disadvantageous position. The policy of the government is to give a push to such people, who hail from the disadvantaged group. That is the reason why it is made clear that the reservation not only includes the backward class, but also the financially backward people.”

Though the petitioner belongs to a forward community, as she is economically backward even as per the policy of the government, she has to be given the certificate of economically weaker section to enable her to pursue higher education, the judge added. The court then set aside the rejection order of the tahsildar and directed issuance of the certificate to the petitioner.

Due to this (reservation), many students are unable to chase their dreams and succeed. No doubt it is true that the depressed and oppressed people should be given an opportunity for upliftment, without any compromise in quality in higher education

MADRAS HC