An Ayurveda applicant enrolling in NEET 2021 has petitioned the Supreme Court for a reduction in the NEET 2021 cut off for admission to the BAMS Ayurveda course, stating the large number of vacancies.
The petition was heard by a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant on Friday, and the bench directed that it be heard alongside the petition challenging the Centre’s decision not to reduce the percentile for BDS Courses.
The Supreme Court filed a counter-affidavit on Wednesday, requesting the Centre’s answer to the petition
- 1. What is the total number of qualified candidates once MBBS (BDS) admissions are deducted?
- 2. How many seats in the All India Quota and State Quota are vacant?
- 3. How many Seats are available at government and private/deemed colleges?
The petition was filed through AOR Neeraj Shekhar, with Advocate Shivam Singh representing the petitioner.
The petitioners stated that admission to Ayurveda courses is done through the usual NEET 2021 exam that is held for MBBS/BDS/AYUSH programmes, and that this should be extended for the academic year 2021-22.
“If the percentage is being reduced/considered for BDS course then the percentile may also be reduced for Ayurveda programme enabling the petitioner to take admission,” the petition said, referring to a Supreme Court order dated April 29, 2022 asking the central government to consider reducing the percentage for BDS course.
The petitioners quoted the judgement in Harshit Agarwal et al. versus Union of India, in which the court stated that reducing the percentile of education and the minimal scores for admission to the first year of BDS course were not equal to lowering the standards. For admission to the first year of the BDS degree in the academic year 2020-21, the percentage marks will be reduced by 10%.