NEET-PG 2021: Centre Requests SC To Schedule 'Urgent' Hearing on EWS Quota

At present, the hearing concerning the NEET-PG EWS quota is scheduled for 6 January.

Doctors raise slogans during a protest over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling in New Delhi, on Tuesday, 28 December.

(Photo: PTI)

The central government on Monday, 3 January, called upon the Supreme Court citing 'urgency,' and requested it to schedule a hearing in the cases pertaining to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in NEET PG admissions, on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who brought up the matter before the top court for the Centre, stated that if not on Tuesday, the matter could be listed for Wednesday.

At present, the hearing concerning the NEET PG EWS quota is scheduled for Thursday, 6 January.

According to PTI, in response to the request, a bench comprising justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna stated, "The moment today's work gets over, I would make a request to CJI NV Ramana for the listing of the case."

In the last week of December 2021, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) had announced that resident doctors across the country would go ahead with mass resignation if the government didn't speed up the NEET PG counselling and admission process.

Resident doctors of several hospitals went on strike and held mass demonstrations in Delhi and other states after the Centre delayed the process owing to revisiting the criteria for determining the EWS quota.

Meanwhile, in the latest affidavit filed in the top court, the Centre informed that it had decided to accept the recommendation of a panel to retain the existing criteria of Rs 8-lakh ceiling for the EWS reservations for medical courses in India.

On 31 December, the Centre, in an affidavit, had said that the three-member expert panel had recommended that only those families whose current gross annual income was up to Rs 8 lakh should avail the benefits of EWS reservation.

(With inputs from PTI.)