MBBS North Eastern Council quota for NE states

Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Sept. 6: Assam has not shut its doors on MBBS seats for Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram provided these states formally apply for the seats, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told The Telegraph here this afternoon.
On the scrapping of the 13 seats under the North Eastern Council quota based on the basis of Dispur’s 2017 MBBS & BDS admission rules, which saw Congress-ruled Meghalaya moving the Supreme Court against Assam’s unilateral decision to abolish the seats, Sarma said, “Why only the northeastern states, we are also planning to accommodate aspiring doctors from Bhutan and Myanmar.”

Assam has six medical colleges with 726 seats of which 15 per cent is reserved under the central quota and 85 per cent under the state quota. Scrapping the NEC quota saw Meghalaya lose 10 seats while Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland lost one each. The Supreme Court will hear Meghalaya’s petition on Monday.

” The Centre had asked to take a call on the NEC quota. If the neighbouring states apply to us we will definitely try to allot a few seats to them…but what has happened is that they (Meghalaya) moved the apex court instead of approaching us. Senior United Democratic Party leaders from Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh chief minster (Pema Khandu) met me in Delhi yesterday and raised the issue. I requested them to apply. In fact, I am planning to write to them and try to resolve the issue,” Sarma said.

The senior cabinet minister was in New Delhi to attend the second conclave of the North East Democratic Alliance, a platform of the BJP and five non-Congress parties, the objective of which is to make the region Congress- mukt (free).

Five chief ministers from the region, besides BJP president Amit Shah, DoNER minister Jitendra Singh and Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, participated in the conclave. Issues related to politics and development of the Northeast were discussed at the meet, according to Sarma, who is also the convener of the alliance.

Sarma’s reactions have come as a ray of hope to students from the three states who have lost out on admissions. However, sources said all seats have been filled except 27 seats set aside by the Supreme Court for candidates who have challenged Rule 3 (1) (c) of the 2017 admission rules, which considers them ineligible for pursuing their school education (Classes VII to XII) outside the state. Gauhati High Court has upheld the validity of the rule.

“If the Supreme Court upholds rule 3 then these seats will become available or else Dispur will have to move the Medical Council of India, which regulates MBBS/BDS courses in India,” a source said.

Sarma’s offer of accommodating students of Bhutan and Myanmar is also quite significant given India’s efforts to bolster ties with its neighbouring countries.

“Both these countries bordering the Northeast are strategically located and moves to help them in any manner would only help India in the long run. The standoff with China over Doklam (Bhutan) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to Myanmar all points to India’s growing engagement with these two neighbouring countries,” a source said.

Assam used to keep a MBBS seat aside for Bhutan till 2015 while offering seats to Myanmar will be a new initiative, sources said.

UMANAND JAISWAL Telegraph India