E-Paper
OBC quota: Chandigarh’s GMCH-32 defers MBBS counselling, seeks nod for more seats
On July 30, the Supreme Court had directed the Chandigarh administration to begin implementing OBC reservation in a staggered manner, starting with 3% quota for the 2025-26 academic year and gradually increasing it to 27%
The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, has deferred the counselling for MBBS admissions for the 2025-26 academic session, and approached the National Medical Commission (NMC) to allow a 3% increase in seats to accommodate the Supreme Court’s order on implementing reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC).
On July 30, the Supreme Court had directed the Chandigarh administration to begin implementing OBC reservation in a staggered manner, starting with 3% quota for the 2025-26 academic year and gradually increasing it to 27%.
Following the order, GMCH-32 director principal Dr Ashok Attri said the college had written to NMC, seeking approval for 3% additional MBBS seats and deferred the counselling until further directions.
The counselling for 150 MBBS seats was earlier scheduled to begin on August 5, while BDS and BHMS counselling was to follow on August 6. The final list of provisionally eligible candidates was to be released on July 31, but the Supreme Court order came a day earlier.
The court also clarified that the OBC reservation applied only where the admission process had not yet begun. In cases where counselling has already started, the policy will apply from the next academic session (2026-27).
Currently, GMCH reserves 15% seats for Scheduled Castes, with no quota for Scheduled Tribes. There is also horizontal reservation for persons with disabilities.
The OBC reservation case before the top court was a special leave petition, challenging a Punjab and Haryana high court decision, which had refused to quash the admission prospectus of GMCH-32 for not including OBC reservation.
