Mumbai: A students’ organisation has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to protect reservation, scholarship and fee reimbursement benefits extended to SC/ST/OBC students, a day after the state cabinet gave its nod to convert two private medical colleges into health sciences’ universities.The Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar National Students’ Federation, in a letter to the CM, mentioned that the state extended freeship schemes to students in deemed universities and students from private universities should not be treated differently.Dr Siddhant Bharne, president of the organisation, said that the govt has formed a committee to examine the private universities legal framework. “One of the many issues that the committee is expected to address is the inclusion of reservation and related policies. Until the committee submits its report and a final policy is notified, the interests of students should be protected through an immediate interim clarification,” he said. This needs to be treated urgently, he added, as the NEET-UG admissions are underway and students should be aware about the fee, the actual reservation, scholarship and freeship provisions before making their college choices.Seeking the CM’s intervention, the letter mentioned that the issue concerns social justice, equal opportunity and the future of economically and socially-disadvantaged students aspiring to become doctors.
