Medical college`s pro-poor admission policy gets SC nod

New Delhi, Nov 21 (PTI) Unaided private medical colleges
can admit the poor and deserving students free of cost in its
management quota even if that requires waving statutory
regulations hindering such admissions, the Indian Supreme
Court has ruled.
"If any college, out of charitable or philanthropic
motive, wants to extend a helping hand to the economically
weaker section of students by providing free admission to its
ten per cent management quota seats, there is no need for the
fee regulatory committee to fix the fees to be charged by the
college for such seats," said a bench of Indian Justices R V
Raveendran and H R Gokhle.
"Nor will it be necessary for such a college to be the
part of a consortium of unaided private colleges, which wants
to charge the fee," held the bench, waiving two legal
stipulations laid down by the apex court in some of its
earlier judgements pertaining to admissions in professional
unaided colleges.
The court, however, struck a note of caution in
granting such waivers to colleges, saying, "It will, however,
be necessary to ensure that such a scheme (to admit poor
students free of cost) is not a camouflage for making illegal
or irregular admissions or for clandestinely charging
capitation fee or for profiteering."
The bench gave its ruling on an appeal by a private
unaided medical college of western state of Gujarat, Pramukh
Swami Medical College run by a civil society Charutar Arogya
Mandal, seeking to admit and educate the poor and deserving
students on its ten per cent management quota seats on a token
annual fee of Rs 5,000.
As per the relevant rules for admission to the private
unaided medical colleges in the state, 75 per cent of the
seats, dubbed as government seats, are reserved for admission
to students successfully competing in a state-wide test for
admission to various medical colleges.
Out of remaining 25 per cent seats, 15 per cent seats
are meant for non-resident Indians and ten per cent seats,
called management quota seats, are for candidates selected by
a consortium of all the unaided colleges.
The consortium prepares a merit list of students seeking
admission to these colleges on their management quota seats
against a higher fee.
But Gujarat's Pramukh Swami Medical College scheme to
admit poor students free of cost against its 10 per cent
management quota seats ran aground for want of permission by
the state government, which insisted upon it to stick to the
relevant rules of joining the consortium of colleges to fill
its management quota seats.
The aggrieved medical college approached the Gujarat
High Court seeking permission to allow its own methodology to
admit the poor and deserving students.
The high court, however, disposed of the college's plea
by a vague order without examining its merits. It was against
this order that the medical college came to the apex court and
got the reprieve. PTI