The case relates to petitions challenging reservation for OBC and EWS introduced by the Central government in the AIQ seats in State government medical institutions.
One of the aspects the Court is specifically examining is the feasibility of having ₹8 lakh as a cap to avail the EWS quota for PG medical admissions.
During the hearing of the case on October 25, the Central government had assured the Court that the counselling for PG medical courses will not start till the Court decides the matter.
The Central government had subsequently told the Supreme Court on November 25 that it is proposing to revisit the criteria for determining the EWS reservation. It then constituted an expert committee for the same.
The ongoing counselling process for NEET PG courses has been put on hold due to the case and this led to doctors in Delhi protesting against the government demanding that the hearing of the case be expedited and the counselling and admission process be completed as early as possible.
The Centre filed an affidavit before the top court on January 1, stating that it has decided to stick to the existing criteria of ₹8 lakh annual income limit for determination of EWS reservation with respect to the ongoing admissions to the NEET PG courses.
The Centre informed the top court that the expert committee constituted by the government to reassess the criteria suggested that the existing criteria may be continued for ongoing admissions, while the revised criteria suggested by the committee may be adopted from the next admission cycle.
The protests by doctors also prompted the Centre to seek an early hearing in the matter due to which the case came to be listed this week.
Source: Barandbench
