UP NEET UG Counselling Halted as HC Quashes 79% Quota in 4 Medical Colleges

The Allahabad High Court has nullified a 79% reservation quota in four UP medical colleges, halting the counselling process. The ruling impacts 340 MBBS seats and necessitates fresh seat allocation.

In a landmark decision with immediate repercussions for thousands of medical aspirants, the Allahabad High Court has quashed a special grant quota policy that reserved an extraordinary 79% of seats in four government medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh. The ruling has brought the state's NEET UG counselling process to a halt, forcing authorities to re-evaluate seat allocations and issue a fresh schedule.

The High Court's Lucknow bench, in its verdict, deemed the state government's policy "arbitrary" and "unconstitutional." The court found that the arrangement, which was in place for the medical colleges in Kannauj, Ambedkar Nagar, Jalaun, and Saharanpur, violated the legally mandated 50% ceiling on caste-based reservations. The colleges, with a total of 340 MBBS seats, had implemented a reservation system that drastically limited the number of open seats.

Major Impact on Seat Allocation

Under the now-quashed policy, the seat distribution was heavily skewed. Out of the 85 seats in each of the four colleges, only seven were designated for the general category. This resulted in a mere 28 seats being open to the general category out of a total of 340. In contrast, the remaining seats were earmarked for reserved categories, with 62 seats for SC, 5 for ST, and 11 for OBC students per college.

The court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government and the Directorate General of Medical Education and Training (DGME) to conduct a fresh counselling exercise. This new process must adhere strictly to the provisions of the Reservation Act, 2006, which upholds the 50% reservation limit. The move, while correcting a legal anomaly, has created a state of uncertainty for students who had already been allotted seats in the first round under the old quota system. The DGME has since been instructed to cancel the previous allotments for these colleges and prepare a fresh merit list.

Aspirants who have applied for these colleges are now in a state of limbo, as the dates for a new counselling schedule and subsequent seat allotment remain unconfirmed. This unprecedented situation could lead to further delays in the academic session.

Students are strongly advised to remain calm and use this time to meticulously prepare all their original documents. It is crucial to monitor the official website, upneet.gov.in, for the revised schedule and fresh allotment list. This ruling will not only bring relief to many meritorious students who were previously disadvantaged but also set a new precedent for reservation policies in professional education across the country. For all the latest and most accurate updates, follow Only Education News.