Editor's Pick: Quotas in medical seats

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday announced 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the all-India quota scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses from 2021-22. The decision comes after a Madras High Court ruling on July 19 which gave the Centre a week’s time to indicate the mode and manner of implementation of reservation to OBCs under the scheme. The Health Ministry said nearly 1,500 OBC students at the undergraduate level (MBBS) and 2,500 students at the postgraduate level will benefit from the scheme every year, as will 550 EWS students in MBBS and 1,000 students in postgraduate courses. The all-India quota was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the Supreme Court to provide for domicile-free merit-based opportunities to students from any State aspiring to study in a medical college located in another State. It comprises 15% of the UG seats and 50% of the PG seats in government medical colleges. Initially, there was no reservation in the all-India quota. In 2007, the Supreme Court introduced reservation of 15% for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes in the scheme. When the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective that year, providing for uniform 27% reservation to the OBCs, the same was implemented in all the Central educational institutions. These included Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University among others. However, this was not extended to the all-India quota seats of State medical and dental colleges. In the last six years, the MBBS seats in the country have increased by 56%, from 54,348 seats in 2014 to 84,649 seats in 2020. In the same period, 179 new medical colleges have been established, the ministry said, and the country now has 558 medical colleges, 289 government colleges and 269 run privately. The fulfillment of a Supreme Court directive for students hailing from other backward classes and the economically weak who want to study medicine makes this the top story of the day. Today’s Editorials Shared values: On India and the U.S. Vaccinating the young: On priority groups Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Who won the first-ever women's Olympic 1500m freestyle swimming title? 1. Ariarne Titmus 2. Katie Ledecky 3. Regan Smith 4. Zhang Yufei To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 30 JULY 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Quotas in medical seats [Quotas in medical seats] The Union Health Ministry on Thursday announced [27% reservation]( Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the all-India quota scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses from 2021-22. The decision comes after a [Madras High Court ruling]( on July 19 which gave the Centre a week’s time to indicate the mode and manner of implementation of reservation to OBCs under the scheme. The Health Ministry said nearly 1,500 OBC students at the undergraduate level (MBBS) and 2,500 students at the postgraduate level will benefit from the scheme every year, as will 550 EWS students in MBBS and 1,000 students in postgraduate courses. The all-India quota was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the Supreme Court to provide for domicile-free merit-based opportunities to students from any State aspiring to study in a medical college located in another State. It comprises 15% of the UG seats and 50% of the PG seats in government medical colleges. Initially, there was no reservation in the all-India quota. In 2007, the Supreme Court introduced reservation of 15% for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes in the scheme. When the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective that year, providing for uniform 27% reservation to the OBCs, the same was implemented in all the Central educational institutions. These included Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University among others. However, this was not extended to the all-India quota seats of State medical and dental colleges. In the last six years, the MBBS seats in the country have increased by 56%, from 54,348 seats in 2014 to 84,649 seats in 2020. In the same period, 179 new medical colleges have been established, the ministry said, and the country now has 558 medical colleges, 289 government colleges and 269 run privately. The fulfillment of a Supreme Court directive for students hailing from other backward classes and the economically weak who want to study medicine makes this the top story of the day. Today’s Editorials [Arrow][Shared values: On India and the U.S.]( [Arrow][Vaccinating the young: On priority groups]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( [underlineimg] Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Who won the first-ever women's Olympic 1500m freestyle swimming title? 1. Ariarne Titmus 2. Katie Ledecky 3. Regan Smith 4. Zhang Yufei To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( Today's Best Reads [[Lovlina Borgohain assures India of first boxing medal at Tokyo Olympics] Lovlina Borgohain assures India of first boxing medal at Tokyo Olympics]( [[Centre says no death reported due to manual scavenging, activists decry govt response] Centre says no death reported due to manual scavenging, activists decry govt response]( [[The Kanjeevaram legacy] The Kanjeevaram legacy]( [[Kerala’s Ayurvedic retreats innovate to stay open] Kerala’s Ayurvedic retreats innovate to stay open]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](