Aurangabad: The issue of 70% regional quota for admission to MBBS courses in the state, which, it is argued, would be unjust to students from Marathwada and Vidarbha, rocked the state legislature on Tuesday.A section of local public representatives from Marathwada, including MLCs Amarasinh Pandit and Satish Chavan along with Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Dhanajay Munde, demanded that the quota-within-quota be scrapped.The issue even caused brief adjournment of the House for about 10 minutes as leaders from both ruling and Opposition benches, including medical education minister Girish Mahajan, rushed to the well of the House.When proceedings of the House resumed, Mahajan, amidst chaos from both benches, announced that a new medical college would be set up at Osmanabad in Marathwada and within the Konkan region.On June 18, TOI carried detailed report on how students from Marathwada as a whole found themselves at the receiving end because of the 70% regional quota for admissions to MBBS courses. There are fewer MBBS seats in Marathwada as compared to Western Maharashtra and Vidarbha.The state of Maharashtra witnesses admissions to MBBS courses on the basis of three regions, namely Marathwada, Vidarbha, and Rest Of Maharashtra.Leaving out the All-India quota of 15%, 70% of the seats in colleges in each region out of remaining total 85% state quota seats are reserved for candidates from the respective region, while rest 30% are kept aside for students from other regions.Highlighting the dearth of medical colleges in Marathwada, when compared to the two other regions, students, parents and other stakeholders demanded scrapping the 70-30 quota formula for medical college admission.The admission rule in question has been in place since the early 80s. Stakeholders have been demanding scrapping of the formula in the wake of the changed set of conditions, including setting up of the Nashik-based Maharashtra University of Health Sciences in 1998, which has jurisdiction over the whole of the state of Maharashtra.The matter has already reached to the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court. A verdict in related one-and-half year old petitions is still awaited.Dilip Deshmukh, chief coordinator of CET cell of Rajarshi Shahu Junior Science College, Latur, said scores of students are hanging all their hopes on the court. The issue of quota within quota is likely to become a political issue, one that will spark regionalism. “We expect relief from the judiciary,” he said.The announcement of the new medical college in Osmanabad, some students and parents said, might well be a tactic of the government to evade criticism over the 70:30 formula.

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