SC Strikes Down Domicile Quota in PG Medical Admissions
In News
What Happened
Why It Matters
Background
History & Context
What Changed
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BEFORE: States and Union Territories could reserve a percentage of their PG medical seats exclusively for local residents under the state quota. NOW: State quota seats for PG medical courses must be filled purely on the basis of all-India NEET-PG merit, regardless of the candidate's home state.
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BEFORE: Educational policies often treated candidates as having a provincial or state domicile to grant local benefits. NOW: The Supreme Court reinforced that there is no provincial domicile in India; citizens possess a single Indian domicile with the right to seek education anywhere in the country.
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BEFORE: Domicile reservations and institutional preference were sometimes used interchangeably to favor local students. NOW: While residence-based domicile quotas are unconstitutional, reasonable institutional preference (reserving seats for students who did their MBBS at that specific college) remains legally permissible.
Prelims Angle
NCERT Connection
Practice Questions
Q1
Correct Statement(s)Consider the following statements regarding the Supreme Court's January 2025 judgment on postgraduate medical admissions: 1. The Supreme Court ruled that all forms of institutional preference in PG medical admissions are unconstitutional and violate Article 14. 2. The Court declared that domicile-based reservation for PG medical courses is constitutionally impermissible as India has a single domicile. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?