Children of COVID-19 Warriors who died due to COVID-19 or died accidently due to COVID-19 can avail of MBBS and BDS seats for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year under a new reserved category for selection and nomination of candidates, approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on November 19, 2020.
The Ministry has allocated five seats under the central pool of MBBS candidates. Selection of candidates is the prerogative of the Medical Council Committee who will refer to online applications depending on the ranking of the candidate in the National Eligibility Entrance Test for MBBS and Dentistry courses conducted in September 2020.
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan believes that this step attempts to honour the noble contribution of all the COVID warriors who lost their lives battling, treating, curing, and curbing the spread of this disease. "This will honour the Solemn Sacrifice of all COVID warriors who served with selfless dedication for the cause of duty and humanity", he stated.
According to the Indian Medical Association, a voluntary organisation for medical doctors, over 515 doctors lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The list of nurses, Indian medicine practitioners, paramedics, allied health workers is determined through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Health insurance scheme. The scheme defines accidental death as sudden, unforeseen and involuntary event caused by external, visible and violent means.
Through this scheme the government intends to pay a relief of ₹50 lakhs to the families of COVID-19 warriors who succumbed to the disease or accidently died while on COVID-19 duty. While formulating this scheme, the government has also defined who will be considered as a COVID-19 warrior.
All public healthcare providers including community health workers, who may have to be in direct contact and care of COVID-19 patients and who may be at risk of being impacted by COVID are considered as COVID warriors.
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 also included but have to be characterised by the State governments.
What Is A Central Pool?
For admissions into medical colleges, the State and the Centre have an 85:15 percentage share in the number of seats in the government colleges. While a maximum chunk of seats are assigned to people bearing a state domicile, the other 15% are divided and assigned by the MCC. The 15% is a central pool which acts as an all-India quota. Students from states and areas with no medical/dental colleges, wards of defence and para-military personnel, children of Indian staff serving in Indian Missions abroad, Tibetan refugees and national bravery award winning candidates are included in this category.
In 2020, five seats from this central pool will also be allocated to the children of COVID warriors.
The MCC does not intervene in the seat allocation for private colleges. These are determined by the state authorities.