The Centre Thursday announced the decision to reserve MBBS/BDS seats through NEET counselling 2020 will be reserved for children of COVID-19 warriors. The new category ‘Wards of COVID Warriors’ has MBBS/BDS seats reserved for those satisfying the category and will be able to take admission in the courses in medical colleges through NEET 2020 counselling for the academic year 2020-21. Five Central Pool MBBS seats have been reserved for this Category for the year 2020-21, Union Health Minister said.
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, said the seats may be allocated for selection and nomination of candidates from among wards of “Covid warriors”. This includes ASHA workers working on the ground, nurses and doctors who have lost their lives in the pandemic or died accidentally on account of COVID 19 related duty. The admission under this category would be done through NEET 2020 counselling on the basis of merit rank under the All India quota. “This will honour the solemn sacrifice of all Covid warriors who served with selfless dedication,” he stated, adding that the state or UT government will certify eligibility for this category. In a statement, the ministry said, “The selection of candidates will be made by the Medical Council Committee (MCC) through online application on the basis of rank obtained in the NEET-2020 conducted by National Testing Agency.” “Private hospital staff and retired/volunteer/ local urban bodies/ contracted/ daily wage/ ad-hoc/ outsourced staff requisitioned by states/central hospitals/ autonomous hospitals of central/ states/UTs, AIIMS and Institutes of National Importance (INIs)/ hospitals of central ministries drafted for COVID-19-related responsibilities are all included,” Vardhan said.
