India announces 27% reservation for OBCS, 10% for EWS

NEW DELHI: The union government has accepted a long-pending demand to provide 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates and 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWC) from the all India quota for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses.

The decision was announced on Thursday and will be implemented from the current academic year.

Prime minister na rend ra mo di tweeted about the decision, “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.”

In a separate tweet, he said, “This will immensely help thousands of our youth every year get better opportunities and create a new paradigm of social justice in our country.”

On Monday, the Prime Minister held a review meeting where he instructed the ministry of health to expedite the process of clearing the decks for the decision. As per the statement issued by the ministry of health and family welfare, the decision would benefit 1,500 OBC students in Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and 2,500 OBC students in postgraduation annually and around 550 EWS students in MBBS and around 1000 EWS students in postgraduation.

Given the implications that the decision can have on the electoral prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is gearing for elections in seven states, a group of OBC MPS and ministers had met PM Modi on Wednesday to push for allowing admissions from the all India quota.

In election-bound states, such as Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, where the OBC communities wield considerable influence, the BJP is hoping to gain from the decision.

The ministers and lawmakers had informed the PM that as per the provisions of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination (NEET), the state government colleges and private medical and dental colleges are required to give 15% of the total number of seats in diploma and undergraduate courses and 50% in postgraduate courses against the all India quota and these can be availed by students from across the country. However, OBCS could not benefit from this reservation.

The MPS told the Prime Minister that as per the provisions of NEET, out of the total number of seats in the state government colleges and private medical and dental colleges, it is necessary to keep vacant 15 per cent seats for undergraduate (MBBS) courses and 50 per cent for post graduate (MD-MS) courses in the all India quota, so that candidates from any part of the country can take advantage of it according to the provisions of reservation provided by the constitutional system.