The UT administration is proceeding with the admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, without reservations for candidates belonging to OBC (other backward classes) category.
In a fresh letter to the central government on Saturday, the UT administration said that till the time the central government reconsiders its order of providing OBC reservations in GMCH-32, the admissions will be held as per the existing criteria (without reservation).
“It is not appropriate to withhold the ongoing admission process to different courses in GMCH-32, Chandigarh, as counselling for admission in PG and MBBS courses are due to be held in the next few days. Accordingly, the UT administration is proceeding with the existing criteria till a considered decision is taken by the Union ministry of home affairs in the matter. The decision has been taken after consideration of UT administrator,” UT health secretary Yashpal Garg said in the letter to the central government.
GMCH only MBBS college in UT
{{/usCountry}}GMCH only MBBS college in UT
{{/usCountry}}The National Testing Agency (NTA) is expected to release the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET 2022) results on September 7. NEET-UG is the qualifying entrance exam for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and counseling for the admissions will start in a few days after the result. GMCH-32 is the only college offering MBBS in Chandigarh.
Why UT isn’t allowing reservations?
As of now, the UT administration is not allowing reservations for OBC category in admissions, citing that GMCH-32 is an affiliated college of Panjab University, which is not a central university and hence provisions under Central Educational Instructions (CEI) (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, which provides reservations to OBCs, are not applicable.
But on August 11 this year, the Union ministry of home affairs had asked the UT administration to provide reservation to OBC candidates, saying: “GMCH is administered by UT Chandigarh, which comes directly under the administration of the Union government. Hence, GMCH Chandigarh comes under the CEI Act. Hence, reservation of OBC, as per CEI Act, may be applied.”
UT health secretary Yashpal Garg, in a letter to the Centre on August 30, had requested the Union ministry to reconsider the matter and withdraw or keep in abeyance the previous orders till a considered decision was taken.
“Though the GMCH-32 is getting aid from the central government directly or indirectly, it only fulfills half of one of the five clauses, which is mandatory under CEI institutes. The UT social welfare secretary had in 2008 informed the central government that the proposal regarding implementation of reservation of 27% seats for OBCs in addition to the already implemented 15% reservation for scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) candidates, will not be applicable at GMCH-32, as it is not a central university,” the health secretary had clarified to the central government.
If implemented, OBC candidates will get reservations in all courses at GMCH-32, including bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery (MBBS), and bachelor of science (BSc) in nursing, optometry, medical laboratory technology, medical technology (X-Ray) and medical technology (anaesthesia and operation theatre techniques), doctor of medicine (MD) and master of surgery (MS).
Out of the total 150 MBBS seats at the college, 15% are for all-India quota or “central pool” and the remaining 85% (115) fall under “UT pool”, which are filled locally by the admission committee as per the criteria fixed by the UT administration.
It is worth mentioning that of the 115 “UT pool” seats, only 92 are for general category candidates, while the remaining are reserved for disabled, SC, ST and NRI candidates.
Hence, 27% reservation for OBC candidates will translate into 23 seats, leaving 69 for general category.