BANGALORE: In the wake of the Supreme Court judgment on admissions to professional colleges, the State Cabinet on Friday decided to urge the Centre to amend the Constitution to protect the State quota and various categories of reservation in private unaided and minority colleges.

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil, who briefed the press about the Cabinet meeting, said the Constitution amendment is necessary to protect the quota and reservation of seats for students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes.

The Cabinet is of the view that the Supreme Court's verdict abolishing the State quota and reservation in private professional colleges is a big blow to poor students, he added.

A decision has been taken to introduce a law to protect the existing system of admissions in professional colleges in the State.

Taking into account Articles 31 (C) and 39 (B and C) of the Constitution, a Karnataka Educational Institutions (Appropriation and Distribution of seats in Unaided Professional Colleges) Bill 2005 will be introduced. The Bill will deal with only the quota and not fixation of fees. It will be circulated for debate, Mr. Patil said. Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh has called a meeting of Education Ministers in New Delhi on August 27. Minister for Higher Education D. Manjunath will attend the meet, he said.

Cases dropped

Minister for Information B. Shivaram said the Cabinet decided to withdraw all cases registered against the people during violence witnessed after the killing of the former Minister H. Nagappa by brigand Veerappan.

As many as 143 cases were registered in the M.M. Hills and Hanur police stations in Chamarajanagar DistrictIt has been decided to withdraw cases registered against farmers during the Bhadra and the Deve Sugar factory agitations.

World Bank project

The Cabinet decided to get a loan of Rs. 572.19 crores from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a World Bank subsidiary, for implementing the Karnataka State Health Systems and Development Project.

The cost of the project is Rs. 642.35 crores.

For the "Namma Bhoomi Namma Thota" programme, a decision has been taken to allocate Rs. 20 crores this year.

For improvement of drinking water supply in Shimoga city, administrative clearance was given for allocation of Rs. 28 crores.

The Cabinet permitted the Transport Department to borrow Rs. 70 crores.

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