Lucknow: In a shocking revelation, the Allahabad High Court has cancelled the NEET 2025 counseling process for MBBS admissions in four government medical colleges of Uttar Pradesh after finding serious irregularities in the reservation quota. The court observed that Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) were allotted 78% of the seats, far exceeding the mandated 23%, leaving the general category with barely 9% seats and excluding the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) altogether.
The colleges under scrutiny include Kannauj, Ambedkarnagar, Jalaun, and Saharanpur. Each of these institutions has 100 MBBS seats, of which 15% are reserved under the central quota, while the remaining 85% fall under the state quota. Shockingly, within this state quota, 78% seats were allocated to SC and ST candidates, while the remaining few were shared by Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the general category. Notably, no seats were allotted to EWS despite the constitutional mandate of 10% reservation.
According to the existing policy in Uttar Pradesh, reservation stands at 21% for SC, 2% for ST, 27% for OBC, and 10% for EWS. However, in these colleges, the rules were misinterpreted due to departmental lapses. The Social Welfare Department had earlier provided 70% of the budget under the Special Component Plan at the time of the colleges’ construction, with the remaining 30% coming from general funds. Officials mistakenly applied this 70% allocation meant for hostel admissions to MBBS seat distribution, thereby disproportionately favoring SC and ST candidates.
Petitioners argued in court that this error had been persisting for years, and once again, the 2025 counseling followed the same faulty model. The High Court took serious note of the matter and quashed the entire counseling process for this year.
The decision has created ripples across the state’s medical education landscape. The first phase of counseling has already been annulled, leading to uncertainties for hundreds of aspiring doctors. Both government and private medical colleges are expected to face disruptions in their seat matrix and allotment process, making it difficult to fill vacant seats on time.
Meanwhile, the Medical Education Department has decided to appeal against the High Court’s order. Officials are in the process of collecting documents related to the construction and funding of the colleges to present as evidence. They argue that admissions in these colleges have consistently been carried out under the same system for years and that this year’s counseling merely followed precedent.
However, with EWS candidates being denied their rightful share and the general category reduced to a mere 9% allocation, the controversy has ignited a larger debate on transparency and fairness in medical admissions. Aspirants and their families are demanding quick resolution as the uncertainty threatens to derail the academic session.
