Chandigarh to go ahead with GMCH-32 admissions sans OBC quota

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, September 3

The UT Administration is proceeding with admissions to various courses at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, without OBC reservation, till the time it gets a response from the Centre.

The administration had requested that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) might like to re-examine/re-consider the matter and might withdrew/kept it in abeyance till a considered decision was taken.

The UT Health Secretary, Yashpal Garg, in a letter addressed to the Ministry of Home Affairs, wrote: “It may not be appropriate to withhold the ongoing process of admission to different courses at the GMCH-32, Chandigarh, and also the counselling for admissions to PG and MBBS courses is to be taken up in next few days. Accordingly, the UT Administration is proceeding further with the existing criteria (without OBC reservation) till a considered decision is taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on the matter.”

The administration had requested the MHA to withdraw the condition of making a provision for OBC reservation in the GMCH-32 on the plea the institute did not qualify as a Central educational institution.

The UT had clarified that as per the definition of a Central educational institution under Section 2 (d) of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, no condition with regard to the Central educational institutions (reservation in admission) was fulfilled by the GMCH-32, and also it was affiliated to Panjab University, which was not a Central university.

In 2008, the UT Social Welfare Secretary had informed the Centre that the proposal regarding implementation of reservation of 27% seats for OBCs in addition to the already implemented 15% reservation for scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) candidates, would not be applicable to the GMCH-32, as it was not a Central university.

The UT had also clarified there was no mandatory obligation on part of the administration to extend reservation to OBCs and also stated that the issue of Central educational institutions might fall in the domain of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (now changed to the Ministry of Education), instead of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As per the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, an institute is a Central educational institute if the university concerned is established or incorporated by or under a Central Act; or if the institution is of national importance set up by an Act of Parliament; is declared a deemed university; is maintained by or receiving aid from the Central Government, whether directly or indirectly; or is an affiliated university which fulfils all these conditions. Also, the institute must be an educational institution set up by the Central Government under the Societies Registration Act, so as to declare it as a Central educational institution.