Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 2: The Centre has filed an affidavit declaring that the Rs 8 lakh annual income criterion for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation will stay in place ahead of the Supreme Court hearing in the NEET post-graduate admissions dispute on January 6.
Last month, resident doctors from throughout the country protested the NEET PG admissions process being delayed. After a petition challenging the EWS criteria as ‘discriminatory,’ the Supreme Court placed the process on hold. The court had inquired as to how the Rs 8 lakh income ceiling was set. The resident doctors ended their strike on Friday on the condition that the NEET PG counselling dates be released after the Supreme Court hearing on January 6.
The Centre stated in its affidavit that it will adopt all of the suggestions made by the three-member committee created to assess the EWS criteria. The current annual family income restriction of Rs 8 lakh for EWS reservation would be maintained as a result of this. The residential asset condition will also be eliminated. Families with more than five acres of agricultural land, regardless of annual income, will not be eligible for EWS reserve.
These suggestions, however, will only apply in the future and will not affect the current admissions season. According to the committee’s report, modifying the EWS reservation criteria midway through the admissions process would cause issues.
The Centre justified the Rs 8 lakh income restriction for EWS reservation in NEET PG admissions in its affidavit. This is in response to an inquiry from the court on the subject.
The three-member committee, according to the document, looked into the backgrounds of persons who have benefited from EWS reservations in the past.
“Given that there is no evidence of the bunching of EWS candidates at the highest income bracket of Rs 5-8 lakh, the current cut-off of Rs 8 lakhs is not leading to a major problem of the inclusion of undeserving candidates. Despite the fact that the bulk of the qualifying candidates is below Rs 5 lakhs, a somewhat higher threshold is needed which ensures that deserving beneficiaries affected by various factors such as income volatility, size of family, high cost of living in certain locations are not excluded,” the committee report says.
Meanwhile, the registration process for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate, or NEET PG 2021 counselling is likely to begin next week.
