SC Appealed Govt. to make Merit the basis of Higher Education not Reservation

The highest court of India, Supreme Court (SC) has said that the government should scrap all forms of reservation in institutes of higher education. It has also appealed to the government to take adequate and objective steps in this regard.

According to the bench consisting of Justice Dipak Misra and PC Pant, the state and central government have not kept merit as a primary criterion for admission into higher education institutes, despite the fact that the court has sent multiple reminders regarding the same. Reservation often surpasses merit in higher education institutes and many deserving candidates have to sit out from the competition.

According to the bench, “The fond hope has remained in the sphere of hope. The said privilege remains unchanged, as if it is to compete with eternity.” The following observation and comment was made in regard of the petitions challenging the eligibility criteria for admissions in various super specialty medical courses in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The criteria for admission in these states are that only candidates alone having domicile in the states can appear for the examination.

Quoting two previous judgments of the Supreme Court where it has said, “There should really be no reservation” and “We hope and trust that the Government of India and the state government shall seriously consider this aspect of the matter without delay and appropriate guidelines shall be evolved”. But to utter dismay the reservation policy is still rampant in the country and even after 27 years since the Supreme Court has suggested to abolish the same, it has remained the same.