Centre reserves 27% medical seats for OBCs, 10% for EWS

Nearly 5,550 students will benefit from the decision

In a bid to prioritise medical education and make it more accessible the Centre on Thursday made a landmark decision on reservation for backward classes and economically weaker sections of the society.

27 per cent of seats will now be reserved for Other backward Classes (OBCs) and 10 per cent seats for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical/dental courses (MBBS/MD/MS/Diploma/BDS/MDS) from the current academic year 2021-22 onwards.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting held on Monday, had directed the Union ministries concerned to facilitate an effective solution to this long-pending issue, a statement issued by the health ministry said.

"This decision would benefit nearly 1,500 OBC students in MBBS and 2,500 OBC students in postgraduation and also around 550 EWS students in MBBS and around 1,000 EWS students in postgraduation," it said.

"The present government is committed to providing due reservation both to the backward category as well as the EWS category. The Union government has now taken a historic decision to provide for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and 10 per cent reservation for EWS in the AIQ scheme," the ministry stated.

OBC students from across the country shall now be able to take the benefit of this reservation in the AIQ scheme to compete for seats in any state. Being a central scheme, the Central List of OBCs shall be used for this reservation.

(With PTI inputs)