NEET PG aspirants cry foul over EWS seat allocation, call for Govt intervention

Srinagar, Nov 26: A delegation of MD and MS aspirants on Tuesday voiced strong objections over the re-allocation of vacant Economically Weaker Section (EWS) seats among reserved categories, calling it ‘unlawful’ and ‘unfair’.

However, the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations contended that the distribution of seats was carried out as per the existing laws and rules.

According to the aspirants, this year’s seat matrix has heavily skewed the distribution against open merit candidates.

The unfilled seats under the EWS category have been unfairly distributed among reserved categories, the aspirants alleged.

“Of the 28 EWS seats available this year, only seven have been filled by eligible applicants, leaving 21 unfilled,” an aspirant told Greater Kashmir. “These leftover seats have been allocated to various reserved categories such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Residents of Backward Areas (RBA), further reducing the seats available for open merit candidates.”

“Of the 293 MD and MS seats available, only 113 are designated for open merit, despite open merit candidates comprising the majority of the applicant pool,” the delegation said.

JKBOPEE Chairperson Prof Minu Mahajan said this year in March, the Social Welfare Department issued SO-176, which clarified that the EWS was a separate category, not part of Open Merit.

“Aspirants have some confusion regarding this and we have tried to address it,” she said.

Member BOPEE, Bashir Ahmad said the matter was taken up with the Department of Law and Department of Social Welfare in the recent past.

“The seat distribution has been made strictly according to the directions of these departments,” he said. “The Department of Social Welfare has categorically been of the opinion that EWS is a reserved category.”

Ahmad said that for MD and MS seat distribution, BOPEE has to make pools and therefore EWS was pooled under reserved category. He said that the seats that would be left over during the second round would be ‘de-reserved’.

Ahmad said that in the past there was confusion about from where the EWS category seats would be taken and which category EWS belongs to.

He said the court had made it amply clear that EWS was not part of the Open Merit category but a separate category.

On whether the court has also said that vacant EWS seats could not be allocated to Open Merit, he said that during the second round, all the unfilled seats are de-reserved and put under Open Category.

“It is a matter of merit and preference, and all the rules are being followed,” he said, adding that the board was just an implementing agency. “If someone still has a grievance, the doors of court are open.”

The aspirants’ delegation said it had submitted its representation to BOPEE as well but to no avail.

They emphasised that according to a ruling by the Supreme Court of India, EWS seats should be treated as part of the open merit pool.

In a formal letter addressed to the BOPEE chairman, the aspirants demanded a revision of the seat matrix, urging the board to follow last year's practice, where leftover EWS seats were added to the open merit pool rather than the reserved categories.

“Open Merit candidates, who form the bulk of the aspirants, are left with a significantly reduced number of seats to compete for," an aspirant said.

The aspirants said that the revised seat allocation would be unfair and reduce opportunities for candidates not falling under reserved categories.

The aspirants appealed to the J&K government to intervene. They warned that failing to rectify the allocation process would lead to a violation of candidates' rights and undermine fairness in the state's educational admissions.

In 2022, when the BOPEE adjusted the MBBS seat matrix to accommodate a 10 percent reservation for EWS, the seats were sourced from the open merit pool.

“EWS is not SC, not ST, not RBA. Its seats will come under OM only,” the then BOPEE chairman Vivek Bhardwaj had said.