OBC quota in medical admission: Madras high court orders notice to Centre

CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Tuesday ordered notice to the central government on a batch of pleas moved by AIADMK, DMK and others challenging the decision not to provide 50% OBC reservation in all India quota for admission to medical courses.
Admitting the pleas, a division bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy also directed the petitioners, including PMK, MDMK and Dravidar Kazhagam, to implead the aggrieved students also as party to the pleas and adjourned hearing to June 22.
The issue pertains to the decision of the central government not to grant 50% to OBCs in seats surrendered by Tamil Nadu to all India quota for admission to undergraduate, postgraduate medical and dental courses for the academic year 2020-21.
The petitioners alleged that while the Medical Council of India (MCI) regulations clearly contemplate adherence to state reservation laws while filling seats, the Centre has refused to follow the state law pertaining to OBC reservation in the all India quota.
“All India quota seats are contributed by states surrendering seats in the government and private medical and dental colleges as per the MCI regulations,” DMK said in its plea.
The party added that providing professional education for the marginalised would provide an opportunity for talented students who could not secure competitive marks due to their economic and social circumstances. These students would go back to their villages to serve the poor, while the meritorious from the upper strata of the society are not willing to serve.
Tamil Nadu law minister C Ve Shanmugam moved the plea on behalf of AIADMK and contended that even under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006, OBCs should be given 27% reservation. But even this has been denied in the admissions to medical courses.
This has resulted in OBCs being robbed of 10,000 seats in the last three years and many more during the preceding years,” AIADMK said.
The parties moved the HC after the Supreme Court had refused to hear the pleas directly.