Tribal students leave hostels, MU campus
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 10 2016: Decrying the decision of the Manipur University Academic Council to follow the reservation norms laid down by the CEI (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006, tribal students (both boys and girls) quit their hostels and left the university saying that they would not attend anyclass.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister O Ibobi has instructed MU Academic Council to resolve the reservation issue as soon as possible.

Manipur University Tribal Students' Union (MUTSU) president Thangtinlen Haokip said that the tribal students decided to leave their hostels and stay away from all classes in protest against the Academic Council's decision to limit seats reserved for ST students to just 7.5 per cent.

He maintained that the Academic Council's decision to adopt CEI (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006 is unacceptable in view of the fact that Manipur has a very large tribal population.

7.5 per cent reservation of ST students is gross injustice.

ST population constitutes 42 per cent of the State's total population.

15 per cent reservation for SC needs re-examination as the State has very little SC population, he pointed out.

Until and unless the Academic Council's decision is revoked, tribal students would stay away from their hostels as well as all classes.

Moreover, tribal students would not seek admission or re-admission in MU if the same decision is not revoked.

Thangtinlen Haokip said.

There are more than 900 ST students in MU and around 300 of them stay in the university hostels.

While some ST students have already left their hostels following completion of exams, around 200 ST students today resolved to vacate their hostels.

Thangtinlen Haokip demanded that the seats reserved for ST students should be 31 percent.

Seat for ST students under CEI (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006 is not at all proportiate to the State's tribal population.

Even as the MU authority stated that it adopted the CEI stated that it adopted the CEI (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Act 2012 for 2014-15, 2015-16 and the current academic session as per a UGC instruction, the Academic Council decided to follow the CEI (Admission in Reservation) Act 2006 in total contradiction to the MU authority's statement.

Tribal students feel marginalised by such a lop-sided decision of the Academic Council, he added.

On the other hand, Chief Minister O Ibobi today held a meeting with the MU VC in-charge, MU Registrar incharge, the Chief Secretary and top ranking officials of Higher Education Department today.

After discussing the reservation issue threadbare, the Chief Minister instructed the MU Academic Council to resolve the issue at the earliest.

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