Since the last two years, pre-school admissions in Catholic schools have been delayed due to the Maharashtra Pre-School Centres Act, 1996. The Act, which came into effect in 1997, has been under suspension for the last two years due to objections raised by minority school managements. The Catholic schools alleged the Act infringed on their minority rights.

The auxiliary bishop Fr Ferdinand J Fonseca in a press release maintained that they have been waiting for an official government notification with regard tothe Act. ``We were advised that what was reported in a section of press that admissions can be started, had no legal force,'' the release said.

``As such, we had to seek a clarification from High Court in line with its earlier order in another matter recording the Advocate General's statement that the provisions of The Maharashtra Pre-School Centres (Regulation of Admissions) Act, 1996 would not be applied for the academic year 1999-2000. This clarification was obtained from the High Court on May 21,'' the release added.

However, the bishop said this was only a temporary measure ``enabling us to start admissions for the new academic year'' and hoped that a permament solution which would respect minority rights, human rights and rights of the child would soon be found.

The release said the Vigilance Cell at Archbishop's House at 1, N Parekh Marg, Colaba would be available to monitor any alleged cases of Catholic schools accepting donations or exerting any undue influence on behalf of candidates, both ofwhich will result in disqualification of candidature. Last year, the Vigilance Cell proved the fallacy that interviews of parents are conducted for the purpose of collecting donations, it added.