Medical Colleges CANNOT take EWS Admissions Beyond Permitted Seats: National Medical Commission Warning

New Delhi: Through a recent notice, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has warned medical colleges not to admit MBBS students under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota beyond the permitted seats.

The Apex Medical Regulator issued the notice after it took note of the fact that several medical institutes have been admitting additional students for the MBBS course under the EWS Quota.

Referring to the issue, NMC clarified in the notice dated 20.10.2023 that the Commission shall not permit any additional seats.

"Government of India introduced 10% reservation to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the society through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment. This is also applicable for Medical Education. In this regard, it has been observed that Medical Institutions are admitting additional students for MBBS course under Economical Weaker Section quota over and above the sanctioned seat," the Director of NMC UG Medical Education Board, Shambhi Sharan Kumar mentioned in the notice.

"All Institutions are required to admit the sanctioned number of students including EWS category within the permitted seat quota," warned the Commission.

"Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken a historic and a landmark decision for providing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and 10 per cent 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," mentioned an official statement issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Last year, the Supreme Court also upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs. Three out of five judges, which heard the petitions challenging the EWS reservation, upheld the EWS quota.

The judgment was pronounced by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S. Ravindra Bhat, Bela M. Trivedi and J.B. Pardiwala.

To view the NMC notice, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/nmc-ews-quota-223450.pdf

Also Read: Supreme Court upholds 10 percent EWS quota