NEET PG counselling 2021: SC upholds 27% OBC quota in AIQ seats, ‘Reservation not at odds with merit’
By Team Newsable | First Published Jan 20, 2022, 12:35 PM ISTThe Supreme Court on January 7 had allowed the NEET Postgraduate and Undergraduate counselling to take place this year with the existing 27 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in NEET All India Quota (AIQ) seats in state government medical institutions saying reservation for backward classes is not at odds with merit.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said that competitive exams do not reflect economic social advantage which is accrued to some classes, Bar and Bench reported.
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“Articles 15(4) and 15(5) are facets of substantive equality. Competitive exam do not reflect economic social advantage which is accrued to some classes. Merit should be socially contextualised. Reservation is not at odds with merit but furthers it’s distributive impact,” the Court said.
The Bench was hearing a petition challenging reservation for OBC and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) introduced by the Centre in the AIQ seats in State government medical institutions.
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The Supreme Court on January 7 had allowed the NEET Postgraduate and Undergraduate counselling to take place this year with the existing 27 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation.
A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna on January 7 said, “Validity of OBC reservation in NEET PG and UG has been upheld.” Justice DY Chandrachud says, “We accept the recommendation of the Pandey committee to apply the criteria from next year. Counselling shall be conducted by giving effect to the reservation.”
The Centre had introduced a 10 per cent quota for EWS category students under the 103rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2019 by amending Articles 15 and 16. The Bill was introduced in Parliament on January 8, 2019 and was passed in both houses within 48 hours.
As per the NEET PG Counselling 2021 schedule, the allotment of seats for NEET PG counselling round 1 will be declared today, 20th to 21st January. Further, round 2 will take place from 3rd to 19th February, the mop-up round from 24th February to 10th March and the stray vacancy round between 11th and 16th March 2022. The NEET PG 2022 exam date is 12th March and the last date to join after the NEET PG Counselling stray round is 16th March 2022.
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