Mumbai: In a major reversal, the Maharashtra government has withdrawn its decision to implement a 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in private medical colleges. The move comes after a huge uproar from medical aspirants and their parents, who were worried about the sudden reduction in open category seats.
The controversy erupted last week when the state’s Common Entrance Test (CET) cell released the information brochure for NEET-UG 2025 admissions. Tucked away in the annexure was a clause stating that a 10% EWS quota would be applicable in private medical colleges. This sent shockwaves among students and parents, who feared that it would drastically reduce the number of seats available on merit, as there was no corresponding increase in the total number of seats.
The decision was met with immediate opposition. The association of private medical colleges wrote to the Medical Education Minister, Hasan Mushrif, opposing the move. Parents and students also raised their voices, pointing out that such a reservation, without increasing the total number of seats, would be unfair to students in the open category.
Following the backlash, the state government has now decided to roll back the decision. In a notification, the Medical Education and Drugs Department clarified that the 10% EWS reservation in private medical colleges will only be implemented if the Central government or the respective council increases the existing number of seats to compensate for the quota.
This is the second major policy reversal by the state government in the education sector in less than a month. Earlier, the government had withdrawn two Government Resolutions (GRs) related to the three-language formula after protests against the alleged imposition of Hindi.
The decision to scrap the EWS quota in private medical colleges has been welcomed by students and parents, who are now relieved that admissions will proceed without the controversial reservation.
