New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted permission to conduct PG Medical Counseling as per the existing norms. The delay in deciding the petitions questioning the reservation of the Frontier Class (EWS) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the All India Medical Quota had left the counseling in limbo. After hearing the case for two consecutive days, the court allowed counseling to begin sooner rather than later. The court accepted the arguments of the Central Government.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachood and AS Bopanna upheld the constitutional validity of allocating 27% reservation in the all-India quota by an interim order. There is no change this year in terms of the criteria for implementing forward reservation, including the income limit of Rs 8 lakh. The conditions under which forward reservation will be implemented in the future will be based on the final decision on the petitions.
The court is examining whether the provisions of the Office Memorandum relating to EWS in 2019 should be applied in advance reservation. The court questioned the basis on which the income limit was raised to Rs 8 lakh and fully upheld the report of a committee appointed by the Center to look into the matter. Accordingly, there will be no change in the EWS revenue limit.
Earlier, the central government had told the court that counseling would not be conducted until the case was settled, adding that medical access was uncertain. Students and resident doctors had protested on a large scale against the extension of PG counseling. A new date for counseling will be announced soon
English Summary: Supreme Court allows NEET-PG Counselling for 2021-2022 based on existing EWS/OBC reservation
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