10% EBC quota ups Gujarat’s medical seats by over 6,000

The state government on Wednesday announced an increase in seats for medical and paramedical courses in the state. With the announcement, the number of seats in medical, para-medical and other courses is likely to see an increase of 6,809 across the state. With this, the overall seats will increase by around 23% — from 31,890 to 38,694. The government's announcement comes in wake of its decision to award 10% reservation for economically backward upper castes, in line with the Centre's announcement on the same.

"The Centre had announced 10% reservation for students who are economically backward. This had to be implemented without affecting the seats available for the SC, ST and OBC categories. To achieve this, we had to increase the overall number of seats," said Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel at a press conference held in Gandhinagar.

Patel clarified that the benefit of 10% reservation will only be available to those who are economically backward and do not belong to any reserved category. He also added that the government has got a nod from the Centre for a medical college in Amreli district which will be run on a PPP model.

"At present, the state has around 4,350 seats for MBBS courses. 914 more seats will be added to accommodate the 10% reservation for EBC students," said Patel.

This will take the total number of seats for MBBS to 5,264 across the state. When asked about an increase in seats for post-graduate courses in medical colleges, he said that as of now no decision has been taken. "Seats for PG medical courses will also be increased, but as of now we are concentrating on MBBS courses," said Patel.

An increase in the number of students calls for an increase in faculty size. When asked about it, he said that they were in talks with the government and the Medical Council of India (MCI) regarding the same. "The number of faculties will also have to be increased. As of now, there are certain norms which should be considered. We are in talks with the MCI and Centre regarding the same. If needed, norms will be changed to conform to the present situation," said Patel.

Of the total number of seats increased, at least 1000 were in government or government-aided colleges.

Patel further clarified that the new seats reserved for 10% OBC category students will not affect the number of seats being reserved for SC, ST, OBC students as well as those who apply under the All India Quota.

Explaining the mathematics behind the increase in the number of seats, Patel said to ensure that the overall reservation for other categories was not disturbed, the overall seats were increased from 150 medical seats per college to 185.