Now Reading: Bombay HC slams Maharashtra govt, orders fee refund to 4 med students
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Bombay HC slams Maharashtra govt, orders fee refund to 4 med students
The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to reimburse the fees of four general-category medical students who lost government seats to EWS and SEBC quotas in 2019. The students had…
The Story in Brief
The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to reimburse the fees of four general-category medical students who lost government seats to EWS and SEBC quotas in 2019. The students had to join private colleges and pay higher fees. The court criticised the state's 'pick-and-choose' implementation of a one-time scheme meant to refund the fee difference between government and private colleges.
The division bench noted that at least 16 students with lower NEET ranks than the petitioners received the benefit. Calling the admission process 'suspicious and non-transparent', the court observed a regional skew in disbursals, none of the 106 beneficiaries were from Marathwada. The students must submit claims within four weeks; the Director of Medical Education has eight weeks to process reimbursements.
The Indian Opinion
The Bombay High Court's ire is justified: a one-time scheme meant to soften the blow of new quotas has been applied arbitrarily, with 16 lower-ranked NEET scorers getting aid while these four were denied. This 'pick-and-choose' execution erodes trust in government's benevolent policies. Even if the state had administrative challenges, the merit principle was violated. The key question now is: will the Maharashtra government appeal, or will it audit the entire list of 106 beneficiaries to ensure no other meritorious students were left out?
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
