Puducherry CM proposes 10 percent MBBS quota for government school students in Union territory

PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry government has proposed to  provide an internal reservation of 10 percent MBBS seats to students of government schools in the Union territory, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said on Tuesday.

A decision to this effect was taken in a cabinet meeting held on Monday and the file pertaining to this was sent to the Lt. Governor for approval, said Narayanasamy at a press conference on Tuesday. It was decided to introduce it as a government order instead of passing an act, he said.

If the LG grants approval, the reservation will be implemented from the current academic year, he said. On the other hand, if the LG denies approval, the government is ready to fight against it, he added.

During 2018-19, 94 students from government schools and 1346 from private schools passed the National Eligibility and Entrance test (NEET). Only 16 students (11 in Mahe, three in Karaikal and two in Puducherry) who studied in government schools could pursue medical education while 243 students from private schools were selected.

In a bid to create a situation for government school students to pursue medical education, the internal reservation is being proposed, he said. He said government schools will be named after former Chief Minister P Shanmugham, former Union minister of state and former Chief Minister MOH Farook and other leaders.

Referring to the Supreme Court dismissing the plea by the Tamil Nadu government and others seeking 50 per cent OBC reservation in Tamil Nadu for All India Quota (AIQ) seats in state-run medical colleges this academic year, he said that this is an “injustice” done to the BC communities by the BJP government. 

The Tamil Nadu government was implementing 69 percent reservation for OBCs, but sought 50 percent reservation for them in AIQ seats in the state. The admission process after NEET results has started now and it is the right time to implement the reservation, he pointed out. The BJP government and the Medical Council are functioning against this reservation, which could not be accepted. He said that he had written to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention.

The Chief Minister said that there has been a 95 percent relaxation in the COVID lockdown in the Union territory except for swimming pools and beauty parlours and the administration is also ready to operate inter-state buses. But the Tamil Nadu government is yet to give permission for the same and a letter in this regard has been sent to it three days back.

He said so far 20 percent of the total population has tested positive  for COVID-19 and now the cases are coming down. Hereafter, new patients will be admitted only to Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute and JIPMER and not be sent to private medical colleges. He also cautioned the public to be vigilant and follow all safety measures since a second wave of COVID could arrive, citing an increase in cases in European countries.

Pointing out that the central government is filing CBI cases against the opposition and using the enforcement directorate against them, the Chief Minister said the Centre is indulging in the ‘murder of democracy’. Those who oppose the central government are being stamped as “anti-national’, he said, adding that this will not last long. No one could ‘shake’ Indian democracy and the Indian Constitution, he said. The central government and Lt. Governor together are also giving  tremendous trouble to the Puducherry government, he said.