Tamil Nadu - Chennai

PMK seeks 50% seats for rural students

S.Ramadoss

CHENNAI: The Pattali Makkal Katchi on Tuesday demanded that 50 per cent of the seats in professional courses such as engineering and medicine be earmarked for rural students.

Giving details of the admission of students of the Tamil stream to professional courses last year, party founder S. Ramadoss told a press conference here that 81 per cent of 5,55,965 students had cleared the 2007 higher secondary examinations. Of the 3,92,732 students of the Tamil stream who took part in the examinations, 3,06,105 emerged successful. They all studied in schools run by the government, local bodies and government-aided institutions. Most of them were from rural areas.

He said of the 324 students from the Tamil Stream admitted to medical colleges, 306 had gone to government, and 18 others to private colleges, against the total of 1,645 seats. He said 17,837 students of the Tamil stream were admitted to private self-financing engineering colleges against the total strength of about 92,000 seats.

Dr. Ramadoss said he had gathered the information from authorities, using provisions of the Right to Information Act.

He said the State government should consult legal experts and educationists immediately and frame a law on the quota scheme this year. He recalled that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime (1996-2001) had [in December 1997] devised a scheme of 15 per cent reservation in engineering courses for rural students. [Later, the scheme was extended to medical and law courses.]

When the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was in power during 2001-2006, the reservation of seats was increased from 15 to 25 per cent [in June 2001]. Subsequently, courts quashed the scheme.

Referring to reports that fee for engineering courses in the self-financing colleges will be hiked this year, the PMK founder said the government should direct the managements to reduce the fee. There was no justification for a hike. The fee was already on the higher side. If fee was hiked, the PMK would launch an agitation.

Dr. Ramadoss wanted the government to take action against those selling lottery tickets, defying the ban imposed five years ago.

Recalling that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had issued a statement that he would send a team of officials to West Bengal and Kerala to study the working of the ban on the entry of big players into retail trade there, the PMK leader wanted to know what follow-up action had been taken. Asked for his assessment of the functioning of the DMK regime in the last two years, Dr. Ramadoss ended his press conference with a short statement: “It has not passed the test.”

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