Students and parents are expressing concern after it was announced that 10% of seats in private medical colleges across Maharashtra will now be reserved for candidates under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.
The decision has left many worried about reduced seat availability for general category students during the upcoming medical counselling process for the academic year 2025–2026. Parents fear increased competition and uncertainty in an already tough admission landscape.
According to a media report, “This is a grave injustice towards those students who fall under the general category, since it’s their seats that are at stake. The right way to do it would have been to increase the total number of seats at medical colleges to ensure that no child is losing out on an opportunity. We hope to take our concerns to X (formerly Twitter) to give this issue the spotlight it needs,” said Jasmine Gogri, a medical counsellor who is guiding over 100 students through admissions.
The change was first noticed in the NEET UG admission brochure, released just as the registration process for medical college applications began on July 23.
“My son is an open category student and even secured good marks in the 2025 NEET UG. If seats aren’t increased, the EWS reservation will cut into his chance of getting into his preferred medical college,” said Dr Sameer, a Nagpur resident.
The last time medical college seats were increased was in 2019, when the EWS quota was introduced in government medical colleges, accompanied by a 25% seat hike to accommodate the new reservation without affecting existing cut-offs.
“We plan to approach Hasan Mushrif and Devendra Fadnavis to raise the concerns of our students. Why has the rule only come out in Maharashtra, and are we expecting an increase in medical seats? The registration process has already begun and the admissions will begin soon too — this puts the students in limbo,” said Sudha Shenoy, a member of the Parents’ Association.
Some parents are even considering a shift in their children’s domain after catching wind of the new reservations. “My son was already worried about applying to medical colleges given the competitive cut-offs, but now we may completely move to paramedical courses since the open category seats may be cut down further,” said a Dombivli-based parent.
According to the NEET UG information brochure released by the State CET Cell, “Government / Government Aided / Corporation / Private Unaided Institutions (excluding Minority Institutions), 10 per cent of the available seats under State Quota shall be reserved for candidates belonging to the EWS category.”
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