-The Telegraph 'Retain the norm that excludes families owning five acres or more of agriculture land' A panel appointed by the central government to review the income cut-off for the economically weaker sections quota after the Supreme Court questioned the existing figure favours retaining it at Rs 8 lakh, sources have said. The three-member committee’s report has been submitted to the apex court, with its contents yet to be made public. The sources...

-Scroll.in Medical admissions have been paralysed by the government’s inability to offer a rationale for the income criteria used to define economically weaker sections For nearly two weeks now, hospital services in Delhi have been crippled by a strike by resident doctors over the deadlock in admissions to postgraduate medical courses. On Monday, the police allegedly thrashed and detained protesting doctors, registering a case against them, which prompted their association to announce...

-The Hindu Bench asks Centre to file affidavit explaining the “basis” on which the amount was arrived at . The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to explain how it zeroed in on the figure of ‘₹8 lakh’ as the annual income criterion to identify economically weaker sections (EWS) among forward classes of society for grant of 10% reservation in medical admissions under the all India quota (AIQ). The Supreme Court’s query...

-The Hindu The case for reservations for women and transgender persons in State jobs and higher education The Bihar government recently announced 33% horizontal reservation for women in State engineering and medical colleges. While reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and economically weaker sections (EWS) is referred to as vertical reservation, horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries, such as...

-Scroll.in Even as the RTE Act has ensured 25% reservation for economically backward students, the lack of internet access has resulted in dropouts. Over the past one-and-a-half year, the prolonged closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic has reversed the educational gains made in the last decade. This is especially relevant to socially and educationally disadvantaged children who gained access to education in private schools through the quota for them under...