Medical and dental courses in the country will have a 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 10 percent for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) under the All India Quota Scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday following a long-standing demand from OBC communities and organisations to give OBC reservation in all-India quota of medical education.
Several litigations have also been made in various courts of the country including the apex court but the issue has been pending for a long time.
This move could benefit many National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2021 candidates.
After announcing the quota, PM Modi took to Twitter and said, “Our Government has taken a landmark decision for providing 27% reservation for OBCs and 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Section in the All India Quota Scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical/dental courses from the current academic year.” He added, “This will immensely help thousands of our youth every year get better opportunities and create a new paradigm of social justice in our country.”
Centrally funded institutions like AIIMS, JIPMER already have the provision.
The extension of the quota to state colleges will benefit around 1,500 OBC students in MBBS and 2,500 in postgraduate OBC students every year, an official statement said.
Around 550 EWS students in MBBS and around 1,000 EWS students in post graduation will benefit every year from this move, according to the Government of India.
Political analysts say the latest decision is also being seen in the context of next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections where caste and communal allegiances play a big role.
The All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the Supreme Court to provide for domicile-free merit-based opportunities to students from any State to aspire to study in a good medical college located in another state. Initially, there was no reservation in AIQ Scheme up to 2007. In 2007, the Supreme Court introduced reservations of 15 per cent for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 7.5 per cent for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the AIQ Scheme. When the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective in 2007 providing for uniform 27 per cent reservation to OBCs, the same was implemented in all the Central Educational Institutions including in Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University. However, this was not extended to the AIQ seats of State medical and dental colleges.
