NEET PG Counselling 2021: Centre retains EWS reservation policy, says report

NEW DELHI: The Union government has informed the Supreme Court (SC) that it has decided to retain the existing reservation policy for the Economically Weaker Section(EWS) with respect to the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) All India Quota (AIQ), reported Live Law. The income limit for eligibility for the EWS quota remains Rs 8 lakh per annum.

The court agreed to hear pleas against the July 29 notice regarding reservation for the NEET AIQ academic session 2021-22 on September 17, 2021. On October 21, the SC asked the Centre, if it would like to revisit the limit of Rs 8 lakh annual income for determining the EWS category. The government had informed the SC in November of its decision to review the criteria for determining the EWS category in NEET AIQ.

Also read | NEET PG: Kerala's MBBS students may miss NEET PG 2022 due to COVID delays

According to a central government expert committee, excluding the EWS reservation in the middle of the process will result in complications. Instead, the committee suggested the introduction of revised EWS criteria from the upcoming academic year. The Centre informed the SC in its affidavit that it has decided to follow these recommendations, Live Law reported.

The revisions recommended by the committee include the annual income criteria of Rs 8 lakh for the EWS category, but exclude reservations for members of families with agricultural land of five acres or more, irrespective of income.

Also read | How a NEET PG 2021 aspirant handled the year of delays

Resident doctors in many parts of India launched protests across the country over the past 2 months as the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) put a hold on the National Eligibility Entrance Test or NEET PG counselling 2021. 42,000 aspiring doctors are in trouble due to the pending case in the Supreme Court which is scheduled to be heard on January 6, 2022.