1 percent reserved quota in Maharashtra medical institutions for students from Orphanages

Mumbai: Social upliftment is coming into play with the state government deciding to reserve 1 % seats, this year in government and corporation medical institutions for children who have been residing in orphanages. The government order in this regard is likely to be implemented soon.

"We will set aside about 10-odd seats in our colleges and if we receive more applications, admissions will be carried out on merit," Dr Pravin Shingare, Head, Directorate of Medical Education and Research, told TOI. "We have provided for so many reservations based on caste and jaati and for defense personnel. There are seats set aside even for geographical reasons like that for students from the hilly region and Maharashtra-Karnataka border areas. But this one will truly be supportive for those who have no one in this world to stand by."

All government health sciences colleges in courses like, Ayurveda, Unani , dentistry, homeopathy, and nursing will keep aside seats for orphans. Maharashtra Government is already running Bal Grihas. Meanwhile, hundreds of private colleges run private orphanages housing 15,000 children.

Students applying for orphan reservation will have to tick the option on the admission form for the same and provide also provide credible evidence proving that they have been residents of the concerned orphanage for the past 12 years. that they have been residing in an orphanage from birth to Class XII.

"I think Maharashtra is the first state to reserve seats for such students," GD Yadav, head of the Institute of Chemical Technology, told the daily. "This is a social issue and there is merit in this case. On humanitarian grounds, this kind of social engineering will make sure that people are not left out of the mainstream."