SC allows NEET counselling under existing EWS criteria
Part of: Prelims and GS-II -Education
Context The Supreme Court has allowed National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) counselling to proceed so as to not disrupt medical admissions this year.
It also upheld the 27% reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10% for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the All India Quota (AIQ) seats in accordance with a July 29, 2021 government order
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
It is an all India pre-medical entrance test for students who wish to pursue undergraduate medical (MBBS), dental (BDS) and AYUSH (BAMS, BUMS, BHMS, etc.) courses in government and private institutions in India and also, for those intending to pursue primary medical qualification abroad.
The exam is conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).
EWS quota
Only those persons who are not covered under the scheme of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and whose family has gross annual income below 8.00 lakh rupees are to be identified as EWSs for benefit of reservation.
This Income shall also include income from all sources i.e. salary, agriculture, business, profession, etc.
Persons whose families own landholdings of a certain size such as at least five acres of agricultural land, or a residential flat of at least 1,000 sq. feet are excluded from the purview of this reservation.
EWS, as originally notified by a January 2019 official memorandum, was recently recommended for retention by the government-appointed former Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey-led Expert Committee on December 31, 2021,
