Mumbai: Students of the open category plan on approaching the Supreme Court (SC), as the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court (HC) has dismissed their petition opposing the Maratha reservation. On the other hand, around 1,750 Maratha students can secure admissions for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) medical and dental courses under the Socially and Educationally Backward (SEBC) category. Students of the open category had approached the Nagpur bench, seeking a stay on the ordinance initiated by the state. This ordinance supported the 16 per cent reservation for the SEBC category and 10 per cent reservation of seats for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). But now, the bench has dismissed this plea, allowing students to secure admissions under these quotas.
Open category students claim they will approach the SC as these reservation policies have taken away their seats. Aakash Mishra, a student, said, "We do not stand a chance to secure admissions due to these quota reservations. We had 50 per cent seats in the open category earlier and now we are left with a mere 34 per cent. We will take our fight to the SC." Meanwhile, students of the Maratha community claim they had already secured admissions under reservation and the state government has supported them. Shivaji Bhosale, a student said, "We had already secured admissions under the SEBC quota. The state initiated these quotas to support those who come from socially, educationally and economically weak backgrounds, so our reservations should continue." On June 4, the SC had directed the Maharashtra government to hold the last round of counselling for PG medical and dental seats by June 14.
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