It is reverberating all over the state that only 375 medical seats are unreserved in medical colleges in Assam out of 1500 seats, which revealed that more than 50 per cent of seats were reserved for different categories of students. The decision to make so many reservations for medical seats is really shocking news for common people, parents, and guardians of medical aspirant students in the state.
The Assam government has breached the maximum limit of reservation, i.e., 50 per cent reservation, which is a gross violation of the Supreme Court verdict in 1992. It is well known that a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in 1992 (Indra Sawhney & Others Vs Union of India) imposed a ceiling of 50 per cent on the total reservation, but in practice, it is seen as an ephemeral verdict. Most of the states in the country have already crossed the maximum 50 per cent reservation criteria to achieve political gain, which is really unjustified and a deep-seated resentment for general category students.
The Government of Assam has also shown the same intention by breaching the 50 per cent cut-off reservation benchmark in medical seats at the expense of meritorious students in the state. Rubbing salt into the wounds, another 10 per cent of seats have been reserved for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) students, the NRI who have already left our country and have the mindset to serve in a foreign country. Is it justified? Where will our poor students go for medical education? It is pertinent to mention that 19133 students from Assam have qualified for NEET UG 2023 against 1500 MBBS and nearly 40 BDS seats. At this juncture, the state government’s decision was so obstinate that the Indian Medical Association (IMA) also expressed their dissatisfaction over the 10 per cent NRI quota and requested the concerned authorities to reconsider the decision immediately.
Through your esteemed paper, we also request the competent authorities to reconsider that queer decision taken by the state cabinet at the earliest possible time so that local students can feel a speck of hope that is urgently needed.
Mintu Sarma,
Rani Gate.