Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday said she has forwarded to the Centre the file relating to Chief Minister N Rangasamy dispensation's proposal to earmark 10 percent seats for students studying in government schools in medical admission in the union territory.

In a release, the Lt Governor said the Union Home Ministry had been requested to approve the territorial government's proposal to provide 10 percent horizontal reservation in UG MBBS courses during the current academic year.

Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC) is the authority in Puducherry to finalise the list of students for admission to various courses in higher education stream.

She further said that a proposal was received from the territorial government for sanction of 10 percent quota in the undergraduate medical courses for students of the government run higher secondary schools here.

Soundararajan recalled that when the previous Congress government had proposed to grant 10 percent quota for government students the Lt Governor did not concur with it and the proposal was consequently sent to the Home Ministry for its approval.

However, the Ministry did not approve it for 'certain reasons'.

"Since there is consensus now on the part of the Lt Governor and the elected government to provide ten percent quota to government school students selected through CENTAC, the file for grant of reservation along with the resolution of the cabinet has been sent to the Union Home Ministry for its nod." Citing the reason for sending the file to the Home Ministry, Soundararajan said, "it is not practically possible for the territorial government to decide the quota on its own without sending the file to the Home Ministry." Exuding confidence that the approval would be available soon, the Lt Governor said the admission would be decided within the stipulated time by introducing the ten percent quota. "We are sincerely pursuing the matter for procuring the ten percent quota for government school students," she added.

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