Govt: MedEd AIQ doesn’t violate anyone’s rights

Govt: MedEd AIQ doesn’t violate anyone’s rights

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:12.10.2021

Justifying its decision to implement 27% reservation for OBCs and 10% for Economically Weaker Sections in the All-India Quota (AIQ) for admission in medical and dental colleges, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that grievances of the general category students who challenged the decision is “unfounded and misconceived” as it does not violate their fundamental rights.

The scheme was introduced in 1986 at the Supreme Court’s instance to provide domicile-free merit-based opportunities to students from any state to get admission in a good medical college in another state. AIQ at present consists of 15% of total available undergraduate seats and 50% of total available PG seats in government medical colleges. There was no reservation in AIQ up to 2007 when the SC permitted 15% reservation for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes. Similarly, OBC and EWS quotas have also been extended to AIQ.

Govt decision has hurt general category students: Petitioners

A batch of MBBS doctors, who are aspiring to pursue higher education in medicine, approached the apex court through advocate Vivek Singh, seeking interim stay on the Centre's notification issued on July 29 for enforcing OBC and EWS quota in AIQ. They contended that the Centre's decision was contrary to the law laid down by the apex court and leaves only a miniscule number of seats for the general category students.

Countering the petitioners, the Centre in its reply said the decision was taken to bring equality of opportunities and without cost to the candidates from the unreserved category as the number of available seats has gone up. It said that in the last six years, MBBS seats in the country increased by 56 % from 54,348 seats in 2014 to 84,649 in 2020 and the number of PG seats increased by 80 % from 30,191 in 2014 to 54,275 seats in 2020. In the same period, 279 new colleges have been established and now the country has 558 medical colleges, the affidavit said.

"It is submitted that reservation, both to the backward category as well as EWS category, is on the broader considerations of equality of opportunities and the equality mandate viewed in the perspective of social justice. The government of India has therefore decided to provide for 27% reservation for OBC and 10% reservation for EWS in the AIQ scheme. The OBC students from across the country will now be able to take benefit of this reservation in the AIQ scheme to compete in any state. TNN