Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) Punjab on Wednesday demanded 100 per cent reservation for Punjab and Haryana’s students in Chandigarh’s government and government-aided colleges for the coming 2018-2019 academic session.
AAP Legislative Wing Spokesperson and Kharar legislator, Kanwar Sandhu said all admissions being done in government and government-aided colleges in Chandigarh for the coming 2018-2019 academic session should be halted and fresh admissions done on the 60:40 ratio between Punjab and Haryana students.
Since Chandigarh is the capital of both states, students who pass out of UT schools should also be eligible, he added.
Sandhu described the present system highly discriminatory to Punjab and Haryana, despite Chandigarh being their joint Capital. At present, 85 per cent seats in government colleges are reserved for students who pass out of Chandigarh schools.
Students from Punjab and Haryana schools are eligible for only the remaining 15 percent seats left open for students from rest of the country.
He pointed out that by not having a reservation quota for backward classes (BC) and other backward classes (OBC) students in college admissions, the Union Territory (UT) Administration was violating not only the Union government’s norms but also the norms of the two states and the Panjab University. The nation-wide reservation system for SC/ST, BC and OBC should be followed, he demanded.
The Kharar legislator said that he was writing to the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, VP Singh Badnore demanding that the admission process in all colleges be stopped till the fresh admission system which is fair to both Punjab and Haryana is rolled out.
The admission system affects as many as 10 government and government-aided colleges in Chandigarh. This includes the Government College for Men, Government College for Girls, DAV College, SD College and SGGS College.
He urged the Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh to take up the matter at the highest level. Incidentally, the demand for halting the college admission process comes a day after the Punjab CM objected to Chandigarh Administration raising its own cadre of employees, thus eroding the 60 per cent share in the Administration.
UT Administration reportedly adopted the 85:15 norm for admissions only a few years ago. The AAP leader also said that his party would be exploring the option of moving Punjab and Haryana High Court, if the criteria was not altered.