SC allows NEET-PG admission with 27% quota for OBC

One-liner: The Supreme Court on Friday, in an interim order, allowed resumption of medical counselling for NEET-PG admissions for the year 2021-22 and upheld the validity of 27% OBC quota.

Bench contention: A bench said that detailed reasons for the interim order will follow, and the counselling for the NEET-PG for the academic year 2021-22 will proceed as per the criteria already notified.

• It added that the validity of the criteria determined by the Pandey committee for identification of EWS would prospectively for the future will be subject to the final result of the petitions

Legally sustainable:  Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had submitted that the submission of petitioners that OBC reservation is unconstitutional is legally unsustainable.

Due deliberation: Justifying the application of Rs 8 lakh income criteria for the EWS category, Mehta said the decision was arrived at after due deliberation by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

• In its affidavit, the Centre has said it has decided to accept the recommendations of the three-member panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for defining EWS at Rs 8 lakh or less

Bottom line: It has also told the court that according to the panel, family income is a feasible criterion for defining EWS and in the current situation, a threshold of Rs 8 lakh seems reasonable for the purpose.

Source: PTI