State to reserve 30% seats in WBNUJS for domiciles

Kolkata: Bengal government is going to reserve seats up to 30 percent for the students having domicile in the state and aspiring law students.

Seats would also be reserved up to 5 percent for the poor meritorious students in the same field.

The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2018 has been passed in the Assembly on Tuesday. It would allow the state government to reserve the seats for the students from the state.

Moloy Ghatak, the minister of Judicial and Law Department, said in the Assembly on Tuesday that there are many law aspirants in the state who are unable to pursue law studies due to poverty. The minister said many students from the state will get the opportunity once the law is enforced.

Ghatak also clarified that the students would secure admission in West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences on the basis of merit — a test is conducted at the National level. Despite having being featured on the merit list, many poor but meritorious students cannot afford to study law. This had prompted the state government to amend the existing law of the state.

"The students whose names would feature on the merit list but face economic challenges would be given the opportunity to study law by reserving seats up to 5 percent following the amendment. Seats would be reserved up to 30 percent for the students who have domicile in the state, if they find place on the National merit list," Ghatak said in the Assembly.

The minister also maintained that his department had approached Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying there are many students from Bengal who have been able to pursue law studies as they are economically challenged. After listening to the proposal, the Chief Minister assured that steps would be taken in this regard. It may be mentioned that earlier there was no provision in the law which could have allowed the state government to reserve seats for the candidates having domicile in the state. Some other states give opportunity to the students having domicile in their respective states, the minister told the House on Tuesday.

While the Bill was tabled in the Assembly, Snehasish Chakraborty, a Trinamool Congress MLA said this move by the state government would be extremely beneficial for the students domiciled in the state. He also alleged that the Left Front government never thought of amending the law, paving way for the poor students to study law.