The Supreme Court of India will announce its decision today regarding the issue of inclusion of the 27 percent OBC and 10 percent EWS quota for medical admissions. This came just hours after the highest court reserved its verdict on petitions that challenged the extension of the two quotas for NEET-PG admissions for the session of 2021-22.
The center had explained to the Supreme Court that the admissions to these central educational institutions had the provision for a 27 percent quota for OBC since 2006 and the EWS quota for more than 2 years. The government argued that it cannot be accused and it was wrong for the petitioners to argue otherwise and ask the government to change the rules mid-way by extending these reservations for the academic session of 2021-22.
Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General, after hearing the petitions of the quotas being challenged in medical admissions has proposed an early resumption of the stalled medical counseling for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The judgment will be announced at 10:30 am today will allow for the early resumption of counseling for the medical seats with or without the quotas or reservation.
Mehta had also said in defense against the questioning of the extension of quotas that provision of reservation to the socially and economically backward classes which are the OBCs and EWS is constitutionally imperative and the supreme court had upheld this view in a series of judgments about a decade ago. He mentioned that the union government has always respected the Supreme Court’s decision against reservations in super-specialty courses and he also said that the NEET-PG is not a super specialty course.
The petitioners focussed on the inclusion of a 10 percent EWS quota and the Rs. 8 lakh annual income criteria for that same purpose. The bench was repeatedly stating that the demand of the 8 lakh EWS criteria is very different from the income criteria of 8 lakh which is usually fixed to remove the creamy layer from cornering the benefits of the OBC quota. The bench also asked if Rs. 5 lakh annual income would be an appropriate benchmark to be decided for the EWS quota.
Mehta had made a valid point stating that the inclusion of Rs. 8 lakh quota would lead to the rules changing and which would delay the admissions for the session 2021-22 creating a shortage of resident doctors. It was noted that due to the delay in admissions already, the strength of the resident has gone down by one-third which has forced the others to work longer hours at crucial times.
The court cannot just substitute the government’s well-considered with its own view especially if the decision is in consonance with the mandate or provisions of the constitution of India.
