NEW DELHI: The government has an affirmative obligation to facilitate access to professional education, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. “While the right to pursue higher (professional) education has not been spelt out as a fundamental right in the Constitution... access to professional education is not a governmental largesse.
Instead, the State has an affirmative obligation to facilitate access to education, at all levels,” a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said. The top court was hearing petitions by two students for directions to facilitate them to get admission at Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Medical College and the Maulana Azad Medical College, respectively, as per the central government’s policy on allocation of Ladakh Central Pool Seats in MBBS/BDS courses for 2020-21.
The court directed that the petitioners be granted admission to the respective colleges and admission formalities be completed within a week. The court also recommended the appointment of a nodal officer who will ensure that students who are duly nominated under the central pool seats are in fact admitted in their chosen course of study. “Financial hardship should not prevent students from getting admission in terms of the allocation which has been made in their favour legitimately under the central pool seats,” the bench remarked.