On June 29, the government of India had decided to implement 27 per cent OBC and 10 per cent EWS reservations in the NEET All India Quota seats. This has been a demand from various sections of the society, politicians and activists from across states, especially Tamil Nadu. While many leaders from the BJP and the opposition parties have appreciated the move, a section of society, comprising what appears to be the students from the general category are visibly unhappy.
In fact, a hashtag '#NEET_में_आरक्षण_वापस_लो' that sought to rollback the reservations was trending on Twitter for a long time.
"Our Government has taken a landmark decision for providing 27% reservation for OBCs and 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Section in the All India Quota Scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical/dental courses from the current academic year," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Thursday.
However, he has had to face a lot of backlash for this. "The 27% OBC Reservation in NEET must be revoked. Don't be a blind spectator. Let's speak up," tweeted a supporter of the hashtag. In fact, interestingly, most of those who opposed the move did not find any fault with the 10 per cent EWS reservations. For instance, have a look at a comment below Modi's tweet that read, "Reservations if any, should be only for EWS of every section of society and for all caste and categories. Everything else is regressive for the idea of modern India."
With the introduction of the new reservations, 59.5 per cent of the All India Quota seats are reserved. However, only 49.5 per cent of seats are reserved for SC, ST and OBC students combined since only students belonging to the general category can apply for EWS reservations. "During the last six years, MBBS Seats in the country have increased by 56% from 54,348 seats in 2014 to 84,649 seats in 2020 and the number of PG seats have increased by 80% from 30,191seats in 2014 to 54,275 seats in 2020," says a government release.
