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‘Restore quota for Himachal students’

SHIMLA: Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has requested the Centre to continue the quota for students from States like Himachal in all the National Institute of Technologies (NITs).

Admission to NITs has been based on State-based merit lists so far with a specific quota being kept for them but now admissions are to be given on the basis of an all-India merit list.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Chief Minister has mentioned that the new system would have an adverse effect on the career of students from Himachal Pradesh. He urged the Prime Minister to reconsider the decision keeping in view the difficult topography and geographical conditions of the State. Students from the State have to pursue their studies in a difficult environment, he wrote.

The Chief Minister said all these impediments limit the opportunities before the students of the State to compete with the students of other States on an equal footing. The new system would deprive a large number of students of the State of the chance to secure admission to the NITs.

Mr. Dhumal has also made a similar request to Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.

Meanwhile, the Congress has also demanded that the State quota for engineering students from Himachal be restored. Senior party leaders Vidya Stokes, Viplov Thakur and G. S. Bali plan to meet the Prime Minister and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

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