Med admissions: Pondy ordered to allot 2 vacant ST seats for tribes

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court ordered the Puducherry Union Territory to allot two vacant medical seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) for the Backward Tribes students.

Justice CV Karthikeyan passed the orders on allowing two petitions filed by M Hemalatha and M Megatharani, residents of Puducherry. The petitioners who belong to the Kattunayakan Tribe – a caste listed as Backward Tribes in Puducherry sought direction to the UT administration to allot the unfilled medical seat reserved for ST students to her.

According to the petitioners, they completed their school education and had taken part in the NEET examination and they scored the requisite marks for being considered for joining the MBBS course.

The petitioners informed that during the final rounds of MBBS course counseling two seats earmarked for the ST students remained unfilled.

After hearing the submissions by the petitioners, the judge wrote, “I am much confident that the Backward Tribes community which had been created by the UT of Puducherry would not be left high and dry by the government of Puducherry which would, in fact, be a betrayal of their own natives. “

He further added, “I am also confident that by filling up the two vacancies under the Scheduled Tribe category by the present two petitioners, would not affect the other reservation, namely, EWS/SC/BC and NRI.”

The court ruled that the Union Territory of Puducherry can exercise its discretion to extend reservation to its natives in accordance with their reservation policy keeping in mind the eligibility under the NEET examination.