NEET: SC upholds OBC quota in medical admissions

One-liner: Merit can't be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive exam which only provides formal equality of opportunity, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

Crux of the matter: The apex court also upheld 27% Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in the NEET for UG and PG medical courses.

Quota justified: Justifying quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) on existing quota for current academic year, the bench said any delay in the recruitment of doctors would impact the ability to manage the pandemic.

• A bench passed the order detailing reasons for upholding the 27% OBC reservation and allowing 10% EWS quota on existing criteria for this year

Need to know: On the EWS quota, the top court said the argument of the petitioners on the validity of quota was not limited to the permissibility of reservation in the AIQ seats.

• It added that judicial propriety would not permit us to pass an interim order staying the criteria for determination of the EWS category

Looking forward: On Jan 7, the SC had paved the way for starting the stalled NEET-PG 2021 counselling process based on the existing 27% OBC and 10% EWS quota, saying there is an urgent need to begin the admission process.

Bottom line: The Centre has said it has decided to accept the recommendations of a panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for defining EWS at Rs 8 lakh or less. 

Source: PTI