BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy on Friday demanded reservation of 25 per cent seats in the National Law University, Cuttack for the students of Odisha and sought a ruling from the Speaker in this regard.
Raising the issue in the Assembly during zero hour, Maharathy said while students of other states avail domicile quota in NLUs in their states, Odisha students have been debarred from the facility.
Stating that it is a matter of great concern, the former Minister said NLU was established at Cuttack in 2009 with support of the state government for which 25 acre of prime land was provided free of cost.
He alleged that the authorities of National Law University, Cuttack are adamant on their decision to deny justice to Odisha students even after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote a letter in this regard.
A release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office had earlier said the move (to reserve 25 per cent seats for Odisha students) will immensely benefit students from the state.
Students from Odisha scoring 60 per cent marks in Class 12 examinations should be eligible for the reserved seats, it said.
Maharathy maintained that NLUs in 18 other states have domicile quota provision while the authorities of National Law University, Cuttack deny the facility to local youths.
He said the authorities of National Law University, Cuttack have been avoiding implementation of domicile quota on the plea that introduction of such system would dilute standard of the institute.