SRINAGAR: The Centre has reserved medical seats this year in government-run colleges across the country for children maimed by terrorism in J&K or whose parent(s) either died or suffered permanent disability in a terrorist attack.

The reservation for MBBS and BDS courses was made from the central pool with effect from the academic year 2022-23, a Union home ministry notification said, but didn’t specify how many spots would be set aside.

Also, children of central government employees posted in J&K and killed or disabled in a terrorism-related crime qualify to apply, as are kids of Union territory staffers who’re domicile residents.

They can claim the special reservation after clearing Class XII with minimum 50% marks in science subjects such as physics, chemistry, and biology/bio-technology. They will be selected on the basis of their ranks in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2022. The minimum requirement is a 50% score in NEET.

The J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination has invited applications. “The children of the employees of central, other states, Union territory governments on deputation to the concerned state, or Union territory, are also eligible for the reservation quota,” it said.

The decision is seen as a palliative to ease the pain of families that have suffered irreparable losses during the decades-long terrorism in J&K.

Several more steps were taken lately in the Centre’s push for better healthcare in J&K. The Union health ministry has assigned 265 Diplomate of National Board (DNB) postgraduate medical seats to 20 government hospitals in J&K, an official statement said Tuesday, and increased the number of centres for medical college entrance exams in the Union territory so that its candidates don’t have to travel to other states to write the tests.

DNB is a postgraduate degree equivalent to MD/MS awarded to specialist doctors in India after the completion of a three-year residency.

Source: Times of India