Minority report: Parents seek govt's help against 'injustice'

Several irate parents have approached the state government for help, after two of the city’s prominent minority colleges appear to have shut their doors to certain communities who were previously eligible for admission under this quota.


The Gujarati linguistic minority institutes, Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics and Mithibai College of Arts, Science and Commerce—both run by the Shri Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal—issued notices saying that students other than Kutchis, Khojas and Gujaratis, cannot apply under the minority quota this year.

In a notice dated July 14, 2010, both colleges had stated that students from Kutchi, Khoja, Momin, Bohri and Parsi communities were included in the Gujarati linguistic minority category. Two days later, however, the same notice was re-released but Momin, Bohri and Parsi communities were struck out from the list. TOI has a copy of both the notices.

According to the rules, a Gujarati linguistic minority college has to set aside 50% of its seats for students from all the above mentioned communities. A senior functionary from Mithibai College told TOI that the management has sought legal opinion on the matter. The functionary said that the two institutes usually get a flood of applications from Gujaratis and hence they decided to get legal opinion to find out if they can exclude the other communities. “Our advocates informed the management that these communities, which have their own minority colleges in the city, can be left out. Parsis have Patuck-Gala College in Santa Cruz and Byramjee Jeejeebhoy College in Charni Road. There are managements that run colleges for Momins and Bohris.’’

The move by both colleges has left many students in the lurch. “My daughter has score 91% and despite having the marks, she has not been allotted a seat in the minority quota as she is a Parsi. We speak Gujarati and the government rule states that the college has to consider Parsis as a minority. But Mithibai College is violating the rule,’’ said a parent.

“Colleges cannot leave out these communities. The mother-tongue of Parsis and Bohris is also Gujarati. So, they cannot be excluded from applying under the minority quota,’’ said Asgar Lakdawala, secretary of the Maharashtra Association of Minority Educational Institutes. He runs a minority college, Royal College.

FYJC admissions are conducted online, but students opting for a seat under the minority quota have to drop their application forms at colleges. Trustees of the Shri Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal were not available for comment.

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