In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Aided Private Professional Educational Institution" means a Private Professional Educational Institution, excluding a Minority Educational Institution referred to in clause (1) of article 30 of the Constitution, receiving recurring financial aid or assistance in whole or in part from the Government, or from any body under the control of the Government ;
(b) "Appropriate Authority" means, the Medical Council of India, the Dental Council of India, the Central Council of Indian Medicine, the All India Council of Technical Education, and includes any other authority established by law that governs or controls the conduct of a particular professional course or educational discipline;
(c) "Creamy Layer" means the category of 'Creamy Layer' as declared by the Social Justice, Cultural Affairs and Special Assistance Department of the Government, on the basis of income, by general or special orders, issued from time to time ;
(d) "De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis)" means the Tribes declared as such by the Government, from time to time ;
(e) "Government" means the Government of Maharashtra ;
(f) "Minority Educational Institution" means a Private Professional Educational Institution administered, managed and controlled by a minority and shall include any such educational institution declared by the Government to be an institution entitled to enjoy the protection granted under clause (1) of article 30 of the Constitution ;
(g) "Nomadic Tribes" means the Tribes wandering from place to place in search of their livelihood, as declared by the Government, from time to time;
(h) "Other Backward Classes" means any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens as declared by the Government and includes Other Backward Classes declared by the Government of India in relation to the State of Maharashtra;
(i) "Private Professional Educational Institution" means any college, School, Institute, Institution or other body, by whatever name called, conducting any professional course or courses approved or recognized by the Appropriate Authority and affiliated to any University, but shall not include any such institution established, maintained or administered by the Central Government, any State Government, any local authority or institution declared to be Deemed University under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956) ;
(j) "Professional Course" means any educational course of study notified as such, from time to time, by the Government in the Official Gazette ;
(k) "prescribed" means prescribed by the rules framed by the Government under this Act ;
(l) "Reserved Category" means the category of candidates belonging to-
(i) the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes;
(ii) the De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, and Other Backward Classes and who are not falling in Creamy Layer ;
(iii) "Sanctioned Intake" means the total number of seats sanctioned or approved by the Appropriate Authority for admitting candidates in a single academic year in each Professional course of study or discipline in a private Professional Educational Institution ;
(n) "Scheduled Castes" and "Scheduled Tribes" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (24) and (25) of article 366 of the constitution ;
(o) "Unaided Private Professional Educational Institution" means a Private Professional Educational Institution, not being an Aided Private Professional Educational Institution ;
(p) "University" means the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences constituted under the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences Act, 1998 (Mah. X of 1999), or any other University constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994 (Mah. XXXV of 1994), but does not include any institution declared to be Deemed University under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956).