New Delhi: Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, suggestion on the merit to be the criteria for admissions in the 15 upcoming Central Universities, started in 2009, is faced with opposition from M Karunanidhi, chief minister (CM), Tamil Nadu. As according to the Tamil Nadu CM, there should be 50% reservation for rural students in Tamil Nadu's new Central University.
In HRD Minister’s opinion, these upcoming Universities are 'benchmarks of excellence' and admission should be done on the basis of an All India Exam. However, Mr Sibal has learnt to have responded negatively during his recent visit to Chennai. Recently, in Rajya Sabha when DMK MPs brought up this point during a discussion on the Amendment to the Central Universities Bill 2009, Sibal made it very clear that any such directive would dilute the very concept of merit.
Mr Sibal, in his reply to DMK MP Vasanthi Stanley's, who sought to remind the Minister about Karunanidhi, said that we cannot afford to dilute merit through reservations. The new Central varsities are away from the quota system, as they stand to be the benchmarks of excellence, centers of research and intellectual wealth creation. They will be research centric, come with semester system and recruit the best through an All-India entrance exam.
