(1) No person shall be excluded from any office of the University or from membership of any of its authorities or from admission to any degree, diploma or other academic distinction or course of study on the sole ground of sex, race, creed, class, place of birth, religious belief or political or other opinion:
Provided that the University may, subject to the previous sanction of the Government, maintain, affiliate or recognise any college exclusively for women, or reserve seats for women or members of classes and communities which are socially or educationally backward for the purposes of admission as students to any of the institutions maintained by the University.
(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), the University shall in accordance with the special or general directions of the Government reserve seats for the purpose of admission as students in any college or institution maintained or controlled by the University for the following classes of persons, namely:-
(i) the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes;
(ii) classes declared by the Government from time to time to be socially and educationally backward.