Srinagar: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has decided to keep a “reserved quota” for the victims of terrorism in MBBS and BDS courses for the academic year 2023-24 in J&K.
As per the official handout, four MBBS seats have been allocated to J&K for the academic session 2023-24 from the central pool out of which one seat each has been reserved in the Nalanda Medical College (Patna), Government Medical College (Chandigarh), Lady Hardinge Medical College (New Delhi), and SMS Medical College (Jaipur).
According to a notification, priority would be given to children of families where a parent or a direct member of the family has been killed in acts of terrorism or has been an innocent victim in cross-firing or firing of the armed forces while combating terrorism.
The priorities would also be given to children of such persons who are exposed to substantive risk due to their assignment mainly relating to combating acts of terrorism.
Added weightage is to be given to the persons who have come in the “hit list” of terrorist organisations and children of such families of both Muslims and non-Muslims who have migrated from Kashmir due to the current situation and have their means of livelihood including their business or use of their property affected.
The eligibility criteria would apply to the children of permanent residents of the J&K, employees of the J&K government, employees of central government, other states, and UT government on deputation to the state or UT, and employees of the central, other states, and UT government posted in and having their headquarters within the state or UT.
The notification also mentioned the percentile required to qualify for the quota.
The candidate should have passed and obtained a minimum of 50 percent marks individually in subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, and bio-technology.
Forty percent has been fixed for the SC, ST, OSC, OBC, and PWD and 45 percent for PWDs falling in the general category.
The selection of candidates for admission in MBBS and BDS courses would be made based on their rank obtained in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2022.
The minimum marks for the candidates would be 50 percent in NEET 2022, 45 percent for the students with disabilities, and 40 percent for those who belong to SC, ST, and OBC categories.
The reservation policy that is being followed by the J&K government would apply to the central pool of MBBS and BDS seats.