The Assam government has announced a reservation of 17 seats in medical colleges to three communities of the state– Koch Rajbongshi, Ahom and Chutiya.
“The State government had promised reservation in educational institutions to the six ethnic communities pending their declaration of tribal status. Accordingly, we have reserved 8 seats for Koch Rajbongshis in the medical colleges, 5 for Ahoms and 4 for the Chutiya community,” education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.
The reserved seats will be spread across the seven medical colleges. The three other communities – Moran, Mottock and Tea Tribes – already have reservations in medical colleges.
“The reservation was possible after the MCI nod to 100 seats at the newly established Diphu Medical Colleges where the first session will begin from next year. The other reserved categories will not be affected as these 17 seats will be out of the OBC quota,” he said.
The OBC quota was recently raised from 15 to 27 per cent.
With the additional 100 medical seats, the total number of medical seats in the State has now risen to 1,000.
Another 100 seats will be added when the Lakhimpur Medical College begins its maiden session next year.