Times
of India: Mumbai: Thursday, 03 September 2015.
The state
government's decision to extend full weightage to scores in the MHT-CET, a
common entrance test to be re-introduced from 2016 for admissions to first-year
engineering, pharmacy and health science courses in the state, has been
questioned by RTI activist Vivek Velankar.
In an email
to the additional chief secretary of the department of higher and technical
education in Mumbai, Velankar has sought the publication of reasons for such a
decision since the new policy does not give any weightage to the standard XII
state board exam scores in the physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) group.
"The
Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 makes it mandatory for every public
authority to publish all relevant reasons while formulating important policies
or announcing decisions that affect public at large," Velankar told TOI
while citing Sections 4 (1) (c) and 4 (1) (d) of the Act. "Every public
authority shall also provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial
decisions to the affected persons," he said.
Three years
ago, the Congress-led state government had decided to join the HRD ministry's
scheme of a single national entrance test called the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)
for admissions to engineering courses. The state government then decided to
give 50% weightage each to the JEE score and the PCM score in the state board
exam while admitting students to engineering courses.
However, the
new BJP-led government decided to revert to the earlier scheme of MHT-CET from
2016-17 and issued a detailed notification on August 28. The government has
justified the move on the basis of popular demand from people who felt the JEE
was much too difficult to crack and was affecting the interests of students
from the state.
However,
there is a counter view that frequent changes in the government's admission
policy for professional courses affects students who prepare for these exams.
"The
government's notification announcing the MHT-CET scheme from 2016-17 onwards
makes no mention about the reasons for this sudden change in admission policy,
nor does it speak about the decision not to give weightage to the standard XII
state board exam score in the PCM group," Velankar said.
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