Four-Member Committee to review if reservation required for PG medical & dental seats in Goa
Panjim: While last year the Bombay High Court bench had struck down the 41 percent reservation in the State quota of postgraduate seats in the Goa Medical and Goa Dental Colleges, the State Government has now set up a panel to review whether the reservation is required for these courses.
Issuing a notification in this regard, the Under Secretary of State Health Department Trupti Manerkar has constituted a four-member committee under Secretary Health for studying and considering the views of all the stakeholders and make necessary recommendations after that.
Other members of the Committee include the Chairman of OBC Corporation, Dean of GMC and the President of Goa Medical Council.
The matter goes back to 03.06.2000, when issuing a notification, the Goa Government had extended the benefit of reservation to the OBC communities in direct recruitment for State services and State undertaking with 27% reservation. However, this reservation had been reduced to 19.5% in 2003. In another notification in 2007, the Government had decided to extend the reservation to the ST category to 12% of total seats in all the educational institutes in Goa. In a notification dated 22.02.2014, the OBC reservation had again enhanced to 27% in education institutes- government or government-aided. However, at that time, this reservation was not applicable in the case of PG medical admissions.
Back in 2020, the Goa State Commission for SC/ST ordered to implement reservation for SC, ST, OBC communities in PG medical courses at GMC.
Following this, several representations had been written to the State, seeking the benefit of 41% reservation (ST 12%, SC 25%, and OBC 27%) in PG medical courses at GMC. However, as the order had not been implemented, a plea had been filed before the Bombay High Court. At that time, the Government had promised to implement the reservation from the next academic year i.e. 2021-2022. However, the decision of the Government had been challenged before the Bombay HC.
However, Medical Dialogues had last year reported that the Bombay High Court bench at Goa struck down the State Government's decision of implementing 41% reservations for the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Castes (OBC) as it noted that the decision was contrary to principles laid down by the Supreme Court.
Also Read: Bombay HC Sets Aside Goa Govt's Decision on 41 percent Reservation in PG Medical seats
The High Court bench comprising of Justices M S Sonak and M S Jawalkar had also opined that such a reservation policy that was being implemented in Goa medical and dental colleges from the academic year 2021-2022 onwards, had been taken in haste by the Government without application of mind.
"Such a serious decision to reserve 41% of the State quota seats to PG courses at GMC ought to have been preceded by application of mind to a host of relevant considerations referred to in a plethora of decisions of the Supreme Court on the subject as well as the considerations flagged by the dean of GMC. For all these reasons as well, the impugned decision is vitiated and liable to be struck down," the bench had noted last year.
Later, the HC decision had been challenged before the Supreme Court as well and the Apex Court bench had issued notice in this regard.
As per the latest media report by Herald Goa, now the State has formed a four-member panel to review if reservation is required for the PG medical and dental courses in Goa. Besides, the panel will also decide about the fact that to what extent reservation is required to be provided.
While commenting on this, Under Secretary of State Health Department Trupti Manerkar told the daily that the Committee is being formed in view of the High Court's observations in the matter of reservation.
