'Preference to Gujarati NRIs in admissions unconstitutional'

The Gujarat High Court today held the new rules framed by the state government for admission in NRI (non-resident Indian) quota in medical courses as "unconstitutional" for giving preferential treatment for those hailing from Gujarat.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Jayant Patel and justice N V Anjaria directed the government to grant admission as per the old rule where only merit is taken into account and not the domicile.
Kolasani Sai Yashwant Reddy, a student from Hyderabad, had challenged the new rules framed by the Gujarat Health and Family Welfare Department on the NRI quota admission.
In May, the government amended Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Courses (Regulation of Admission and Payment of Fees) Rules, 2015. New rules proposed four merit lists, for NRI quota seats: for those who have Gujarat as the domicile, for those who hail from outside the state, for those who are 'dependents' of NRIs who have Gujarati domicile and those who are dependents of those from outside the state.

Reddy said such a preferential treatment for Gujarat-origin students would cause a setback to others as they may not get admission even after securing more marks than those in the first category. Such discrimination violated the fundamental right to equality, he said.
During the hearing today, Reddy's lawyer G R Thakar argued that merit will take a back seat if the new rules are implemented and most of seats would go to Gujarat-domicile students.