NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the Union Government to extend reservation to OBC candidates under the all-India quota of medical and dental seats in the State/UT medical institutions in the interest of social justice.
In her letter, Sonia Gandhi raised the issue of the denial of the reservation to OBC candidates under all-India quota being filled through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), in medical institutions. She said according to the data compiled by the All India Federation of Other Backward Classes, OBC candidates lost over 11,000 seats under all-India quota due to non-implementation of OBC reservations in State/UT medical institutions since 2017.
“The denial of reservations to OBCs in state medical institutions in all-India quota, being administered by GOI, violates the very objective of the 93rd Constitutional Amendment and is a barrier to access to medical education for deserving OBC candidates,” pointed Gandhi.
She further said that under the all-India quota, 15 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 10 per cent seats are reserved for SC, ST, and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates respectively in both Central and State/UT Medical education institutions. However, reservation for OBC candidates under all-India quota is restricted to Central institutions.
“The 93rd Constitutional amendment envisages special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in admission to educational institutions including private ones, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions,” she added.