No complaint on reserved category MBBS seats going to general, says Health Ministry

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has informed the Lok Sabha that it has not received any complaint related to discrimination against Other Backward Caste (OBC) students in MBBS and PG admission in medical colleges.

The health minister while replying to a question stated that the government is implementing the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006. Under this act, 27% of seats in undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses in Central Educational Institutions are reserved for the OBC category.

On the question that whether the government has received any complaint related to the non-implementation of this act, the government had confirmed that they have not received any such complaint.

The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) under the Directorate General of Health Services conducts the counselling process for admission to the medical courses in central institutions. As per the government, so far, MCC hasn't received any complaints in this regard.

There have been allegations of OBC category seats being allocated to general category students. Recently, social media platforms witnessed an outcry related to OBC reserved MBBS seats going to the general category. A former high court judge and some activists have alleged that the centre has deliberately derailed the implementation of OBC reservation for medical courses' admissions.

Furthermore, a student organization named Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar National Students Federation has lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, SC, ST Commission, and the National Commission for Backward Classes alleging that the central medical institutes are not following the reservation rules.

Madras High Court has observed that the apparent attempts of the government to not follow the OBC reservation act in medical colleges in Tamil Nadu appeared to be prima facie contempt of Court and in the teeth of the High Court's earlier order of July 27, 2020.

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