Quota in AIIMS from this year

The government on Friday said the 27 per cent OBC reservation would be implemented in the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences from the coming academic session.

AIIMS was the epicentre of protests during the anti-quota agitations two years back.

A day after the Supreme Court upheld 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher educational institutions, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said AIIMS will get quota this year "hopefully".

Asked whether there would be an increase of seats and infrastructure in the premier medical institute, he said that "these issues would be addressed".

On the issue of creamy layer among OBCs being excluded from the ambit of the reservation, Ramadoss said "Since the Mandal Commission allowed quota in employment in 1990, only 5.3 per cent seats have been filled out of the 27 per cent".

"This is what will happen to this quota also if the creamy layer is kept out," he said.

On the issue of graduates not availing the quota benefits if they have already done so once, the Health Minister said "we will go through the details of the order and then decide".

He, however, said the issue of the exclusion of the creamy layer and children of MPs and MLAs would be taken up at both the Cabinet and the UPA level.

"There are so many ex-MPs who have fallen on hard times and some MLAs even do not take home their salaries. To keep their children out of the reservation ambit would be unfair," Ramadoss said.

"These issues need to be kept in mind while dealing with the issue," he added.

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