Bhopal: Acknowledging the absence of provision for EWS seats in private medical colleges, a division bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday directed the state government to increase the number of seats in these colleges to accommodate candidates from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.

The division bench, consisting of Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain, also noted the lack of EWS seat provisions in the private medical colleges under the state rules. The bench opined that this omission violated the 103rd amendment, which mandates a separate quota for EWS candidates.

Consequently, the High Court granted the State Government one year to complete the necessary formalities regarding infrastructure and other requirements before increasing the seats, as reported by TOI.

The court made these observations while considering a petition filed by Atharva Chaturvedi, a Jabalpur-based student. After taking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) as an EWS candidate, he scored 530 out of 720 marks. Despite his qualifications, he was denied admission to a private medical college, even though NRI candidates with lower marks and general category students from government schools were admitted.

The petitioner challenged the state government's notification, which set rules for admission to medical colleges. He argued that while government medical colleges reserved EWS seats, private medical colleges did not, which was unfair. He also pointed out that the Central Government had issued guidelines for EWS reservations, which the private colleges failed to implement, depriving EWS candidates of opportunities in these institutions.

In response, the state government argued that candidates were aware of the rules when they appeared for the NEET exam. The State further argued that, as the admission process for the current academic session was already complete, it was too late to change the rules. Additionally, the state mentioned that the National Medical Commission (NMC) had not directed private colleges to increase the seats, and thus, no EWS quota had been implemented.

The Court appreciated the arguments presented by the 19-year-old petitioner and ruled in his favor, directing the State Government to increase the number of seats in private medical colleges for EWS candidates.

Earlier, Medical Dialogues reported that the NMC had cautioned medical colleges against admitting MBBS students under the EWS quota beyond the permitted seats. On 20.10.2023, the NMC issued a notice stating that all institutes must admit students, including EWS candidates, within the sanctioned seat quota and that no additional seats would be allowed.