Mumbai: In a huge relief to lakhs of Maratha students, minister for higher and technical education Vinod Tawde Wednesday announced that the caste validity certificate for the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) category was not mandatory for admissions to engineering and other professional courses like pharmacy, hotel management and architecture.
For admissions to technical education and professional courses, the students were asked to submit caste validity certificates in the beginning itself for verification of documents.
However, at the meeting of the admission controlling authority held Wednesday under the chairmanship of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the issue of caste validity certificate for the newly-created SEBC category was discussed.
It was decided not to make the certificate mandatory for admissions for the time being. The move will benefit students from the Maratha community, which has been declared as SEBC by the government.
Mr Tawde said that as there is no adequate mechanism available for the verification of caste certificates, they will not be made mandatory for students of the SEBC category seeking admissions to professional courses.
Admissions to engineering and other professional courses for the academic year 2019-20 have already begun, he said.
On June 24, the Supreme Court Monday refused to entertain a plea challenging a Bombay high court order which dismissed a petition against 16 per cent quota for Marathas in admission to postgraduate medical and dental courses.
