E-Paper
EWS quota in private medical colleges illegal: Parents
The SC had ruled that unless the number of seats available in the medical and dental colleges is increased, the state cannot apply EWS quota to them.
A group of parents of medical students and aspirants have opposed the state’s decision to implement 10% quota for students from economically weaker sections (EWS) for MBBS in private colleges, as there has been no increase in intake of these colleges.
The parents said the move is in violation of the May 30 Supreme Court (SC) judgement which had stayed EWS quota for PG medical and dental courses. The SC had ruled that unless the number of seats available in the medical and dental colleges is increased, the state cannot apply EWS quota to them.
In a letter to the state Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell, parents requested the authority to change the distribution of seats among various caste categories, so that more are available for open-category candidates.
In a bid to accommodate more students in the undergraduate medical courses, amidst the inclusion of new quotas, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 21 announced new supernumerary seats in government medical colleges (GMC) across the country.
In Maharashtra itself, 970 new seats have been added in 20 GMCs. The Centre is yet to increase the seats in private colleges.
“There has been no such increase in private and unaided medical colleges in the state. Despite this, the EWS quota has been given in these institutes,” read the letter.
According to the information brochure for admission to health science courses in the state, even though the quotas for other reserved categories in private colleges is half that in government colleges, the newly-introduced EWS and socially and educationally backward (SEBC) quotas have been implemented uniformly, 10% and 16% seats respectively, in both type of institutes.
