Admissions to the University and concessions for certain classes

The University shall be open to all persons who or whose parents have resided in the State of Maharashtra for not less than ten years, and no person shall be excluded from admission to any degree, diploma, certificate or other academic distinction or course of study on the ground only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth or political or other opinion :

Provided that, the University may, subject to the previous sanction of the State Government, reserve certain seats for purposes of admission as students in any college or institution maintained or controlled by the University for the following classes of persons, namely :—

1. (i) the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,
2. (ii) members of classes and communities, which are socially and educationally backward,
3. (iii) agriculturists, and those children of agriculturists who possess minimum qualifications or experience in agriculture prescribed in this behalf by the Statutes,
4. (iv) persons who and whose parents have not resided in the State for ten years or more, 1[(iv-a) students who reside in the University area of any other Agricultural University in the State and desire to have admission to any courses of studies of the University, which are not provided by such other University in the area of which they reside],
5. (v) children of freedom fighters : Provided further that, the University may, subject to like sanction, also grant to persons falling under all or any of the categories (i), (ii),
6. (iii) and
7. (v) in the last preceding proviso exemptions from payment of such fees or boarding, lodging or other charges, or from all fees and charges, or provide for such special scholarships, as it may deem fit : Provided also that, nothing in this section shall require the University to admit to any course of study, students larger in number than, or with academic or other qualifications lower than, those prescribed. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, " agriculturist " means a person who, as an owner or tenant, holds land, the area of which does not exceed that of an economic holding as defined in the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, or a family holding as defined in the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950, or a family holding as defined in the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region) Act, 1958, as the case may be and whose main income is derived from personal cultivation of land, and includes any person whose principal means of livelihood is manual labour on agricultural land.