All India Quota Scheme : Reservation 27% OBCs and 10% EWS UPSC
Source : The Hindu
Human Resource/Vulnerable Section

What is discussed under All India Quota Scheme : Reservation 27% OBCs and 10% EWS UPSC ?

1. About the Decision
2. About All India Quota
3. Introduction of EWS Category
4. Seats in Medical Education

Why in News ?

Historic and a landmark decision for providing 27% reservation for OBCs and 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Section (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.

Key Facts

• Directed the concerned Union Ministries to facilitate an effective solution to this long pending issue.
• This decision would benefit every year nearly 1500 OBC students in MBBS and 2500 OBC students in post graduation
• Also around 550 EWS students in MBBS and around 1000 EWS students in post-graduation.

  

• Being a Central Scheme, the Central List of OBCs shall be used for this reservation.
• About All India Quota
  • All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
  • Aims to provide for domicile-free merit based opportunities to students from any State to aspire to study in a good medical college located in another State.
  • All India Quota consists of 15% of total available UG seats and 50% of total available PG seats in government medical colleges.
  • Initially, there was no reservation in AIQ Scheme up to 2007.
  • In 2007 the Hon’ble Supreme Court introduced reservation of 15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs in the AIQ Scheme.
  • When the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective in 2007 providing for uniform 27% reservation to OBCs, the same was implemented in all the Central Educational Institutions.
  • However, this was not extended to the AIQ seats of State medical and dental colleges.
• Introduction of EWS Category
  • To provide benefit to students belonging to EWS category in admission to higher educational Institutions, a Constitutional amendment was made in 2019.
  • This amendment enabled the provision of 10% reservation for EWS category.
  • Accordingly, seats in medical / dental colleges were increased over two years in 2019-20 and 2020-21 to accommodate this additional 10% EWS reservation so that the total number of seats available for unreserved category do not reduce.
  • In the AIQ seats, however, this benefit had not been extended so far.
  • With this latest decision 10% reservation for EWS is also being extended in AIQ seats for all the undergraduate / postgraduate medical/dental courses from the current academic year 2021-22.
• Seats in Medical Education
  • MBBS Seats in the country have increased by 56% from 54,348 seats in 2014 to 84,649 seats in 2020.
  • The number of PG seats have increased by 80% from 30,191seats in 2014 to 54,275 seats in 2020.
  • During the same period, 179 new medical colleges have been established and now the country has 558 (Govt: 289, Pvt: 269) medical colleges.

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