This From Today’s ToI

If the state government has its way, it won’t be possible for students to dream of a seat in a professional degree course merely because they have been born in Maharashtra or because they have passed their Std X or XII from institutions in the state.

A change sought to be introduced by the director of technical education (DTE) provides that not only the student, but also his/her father, should have been born in Maharashtra for the student to be eligible for the professional degree course seat. Besides, the father should have been a permanent resident of the state for 20 years.

My former colleague, good friend & verbal sparring partner Vijay Sampath – wrote to me about this. Rather than add my two bits of comment, i will reproduce the mail in full:

Dear Harini

As you may have read in the papers these past two days, the Maharshtra Government has enacted the most ridiculous Domiciliary requirements for students aspiring to write CET (Engineering, Management) Entrance Exams.

The govt says that from this year, the candidate HAS TO BE BORN IN MAHARASHTRA AND THE CANDIDATES FATHER TOO HAS TO BE BORN IN MAHARASHTRA.

This rule has placed lacs of children in Maharashtra outside the ambit of their rights to admission to Maharashtra colleges.

The arbitrary ruling is surely unconstitutional and flies against all norms of defining Domicile . Going by this logic, the Govt can also add that the Candidates Grandfather should also be born in Maharashtra ? And why only father ? Why is the Govt discriminating against women. Is a woman born in Maharashtra less Maharashtrian than a man ?

I was born in Lucknow to Tamil Parents. My wife was Born in Surat to Punjabi Parents. My children were born in Maharashtra and have lived here all their lives. Where do I take them if Maharashtra is not their Domicile. Does the Govt of India have a provision to exclusively accommodate such Children as mine who have been Exclusively Excluded by Chauvinistic and Cruel state governments ?

Will the Govt of Maharashtra refund all the taxes it has earned from my 17 year stay in Mumbai, now that it considers me and my children as not Domiciles of this state- At least we can take that money and buy a seat in one of the colleges run by the Maharashtra Education Barons cum politicians. What happens to the millions of Indians who are in Railways,Armed Forces, Paramilitary,Banking, Central Govt, who move from state to state and really ensure the integrity of this country. Where will the children of Indian’s go if they are not considered Domiciles of Any state.

Are such arbitrary rules against my Children’s Fundamental rights ? Or is there is a different constitution for each of the states of India, with the India Constitution only applicable in the Union Territory of Delhi ? As time passes, the states of India are exercising their powers wrongly to destroy the unity and integrity of the country.

Is this Manmohan Singh ,Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’s idea of “Inclusive India ”

Can this plea be converted into a PIL by someone in the Supreme Court, so that once and for all, the larger constitutional question of the rights of an Indian living anywhere in India is clarified on all aspects. As also staying the enforcement this retrogressive ruling of the Maharashtra government

Regards

Vijay