New Delhi, February 11
Decks were today cleared for a massive expansion of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, in accordance with the Union Government Act, which requires all centrally funded educational institutes to implement 27 per cent OBC quota in admissions.
Taking up a related proposal from the Health Ministry, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the expansion of the premiere institute in North India, which would need additional seats, faculty and infrastructure to implement the 27 per cent quota over a period of three years.
This would be over and above the existing 22.5 per cent reservation for SCs and STs. The CCEA approval will allow disbursement of additional funds to PGI to increase its postgraduate and nursing course seats in a way that the 27 per cent quota gets implemented and the unreserved seats remain unaffected. After OBC reservation, an additional 214 postgraduate seats would be created at the PGI increasing the total number of PG seats from 396 to 610.
Another 192 seats will be added in nursing courses, taking the total seats in the nursing stream from 360 to 552. Also, an additional 87 seats in paramedical courses would be created increasing the total number of seats from 160 to 247. The CCEA approval also means the institute would get financial help to increase its faculty, resident doctors and infrastructure to meet the demands of an enhanced intake.
The move comes in the wake of the Central government law --- the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, which necessitates reservation in seats for OBCs.
