FPJ-Ed: NEET counselling to resume as per existing EWS & OBC criteria

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday, in an interim order, allowed resumption of medical counselling for NEET-PG admissions for the year 2021-22 and upheld the validity of 27 per cent OBC quota.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said that detailed reasons for the interim order will follow, and the counselling will proceed as per the criteria already notified.

The Bench further directed that the counselling be held as per the existing criteria for 27% OBC quota and 10 percent for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in State government medical institutions.

While the court upheld the 27 percent quota for OBC, the validity of criteria for determining EWS quota will be heard at length by the court later in March this year. The decision of the court on EWS will apply prospectively to future admissions.

The case relates to petitions challenging reservation for OBC and EWS introduced by the Central government in the AIQ seats. One of the aspects the court is specifically examining is the feasibility of having ₹8 lakh as a cap to avail the EWS quota for PG medical admissions.

During the hearing of the case on October 25, the Centre had assured the court that the counselling for PG medical courses will not start till the court decides the matter. The Central government had subsequently told the Supreme Court on November 25 that it is proposing to revisit the criteria for determining the EWS reservation. It then constituted an expert committee for the same.

The ongoing counselling process for NEET PG courses had been put on hold due to the case and this led to doctors protesting against the government demanding that the hearing of the case be expedited and the counselling and admission process be completed as early as possible.

The implications of the order are effectively

- NEET PG counselling for 2021-22 will be held as per the existing criteria for determining reservation for OBC and EWS.

- The 27 percent OBC reservation quota has been upheld and settled. There won't be further hearing on this aspect.

- The criteria for determining EWS reservation criteria will be heard at length by the court in March and the decision of the court on the same will apply prospectively to future admissions.

Published on: Friday, January 07, 2022, 11:21 PM IST