The topic of reservations in medical education and healthcare jobs continues to spark intense debate across India. Originally designed to correct historical injustices and provide access to education for marginalized communities, reservations aim to level the playing field. But as meritocracy and modern competitiveness grow louder, many students question—how fair is this system, especially in life-critical fields like medicine?
What do you think—should reservations in medical fields be revised, removed, or retained as they are? Share your thoughts.
Reservation is the only thing that can’t be reduced but have been increaring yearly and reservations are somewhere necessary but many of them have made this opportunity to not to study as they require less mark compared to general.
Reservation in medical field and non medical field is not fair as this gives opportunity to the undeserving candidates and pulling down the best candidates. On merit bases people should get chance first.
Reservations in medical fields should evolve with the times retaining their purpose but improving their implementation. The goal is not to eliminate competition, but to ensure that everyone competes from a more equal starting line. Equity and excellence are not enemies, if done right, they can strengthen each other.
Honestly, it’s a complex issue. On one hand, medicine is about saving lives, so naturally people want the “best of the best” in the field. But we can’t ignore the fact that opportunity isn’t equal for everyone in this country. Some students face real systemic disadvantages like poor schooling, fewer resources, and lack of mentorship long before they even sit for NEET.Reservations are meant to bridge that gap, not replace merit. The real question should be: Are we doing enough to support these students after they get in? Because access without support doesn’t help anyone the patient or doctor.Maybe the real question isn’t whether we should have reservations or not but how we can make the system fair and strong enough to give everyone a real chance to succeed.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar never meant for reservations in education and jobs to last forever. They were supposed to be a temporary support system to help communities that had been oppressed for generations catch up and stand on equal ground.
He even said that once we reach a stage of social and educational equality, the system should be revised to suit that time. But instead of revising it honestly, Politicians, for political gain just to get votes, kept extending reservations, not always to correct injustice. What was supposed to be a social remedy turned into a political tool.
I’m not saying we should scrap reservations completely. That’s not the point. But, it’s been decades now, and society has changed. Shouldn’t our systems change too?
Maybe it’s time we stop asking whether reservation is right or wrong and instead ask is it still serving the people who truly need it? Is it still fair?
Because something meant to create equality shouldn’t end up creating new forms of unfairness.
I think reservations are important for equality, but in medical fields, we also need to ensure skill and competence. Maybe we should find a balance that supports both.
They should be removed because why only sc or st people will be benefited more just because there ancestors suffered from generations. They can provide them any other best facilities but not in this case.
Students from reserved categories, especially those from rural or tribal backgrounds, are more likely to return and serve their communities. This addresses doctor shortages in remote areas.
Due to this reservation criteria in medical and non medical field many of the students losing their opportunities and the most of the undeserving students are getting chances. What about the best candidates who performed well and not getting the opportunity just because of this?
I think if it’s removed it will be fair for each student.
Reservation in education field should not affect the quality of education. Reservation of seats for different categories is still ok, but giving a different cutt off scores is not a good option. Every student works so hard to clear exams and score well. But when it comes to reservation, a few with less score also gets an admission but a few with very good score missed the opportunity to enter medicine just because of the quote system, this isn’t a fair policy. So I believe they policy should be revised based on equal opportunities on merit system.
Reservation offers many non meritorious students better college and university as compared to meritorious students from non reserve category. Reservation can be limited upto certain limit so that everyone might get equal chance.
Reservations in medical fields should be removed, as they can compromise the merit-based selection essential for a profession where lives are at stake. Medical education demands the highest levels of competence, and lowering entry standards through reservations may affect the overall quality of healthcare. While social equality is important, it should be addressed through better primary education and economic support—not by altering criteria in critical fields like medicine. Admissions and placements should be based solely on merit to ensure that the most capable and prepared individuals become doctors, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.
Reservations had earlier been created in the medical education to create a comprehensive healthcare system that serves and understands all the sections of the society with equality and without any biasness. There are several communities within the country who have faced severe exclusion in the education area and also in the healthcare systems. If a person, say from a tribal community, is becoming a doctor today, he/she will have more duties and responsibilities beyond than a regular physician practicing in an urban setting. So this is one angle to look at, that indicates why reservation was/is in place. But definitely, this is also true that the field of medicine and healthcare demands excellence/knowledge, competence/potential and also precision. The debate should be more focused around how to redefine merit in today’s time (instead of only reservation vs. merit), so that it can include deserving people with experience, resilience, right knowledge,and also people who can take accountability of all the responsibilities including access to all areas and all types of people. Few regulations should also be in place simultaneously that can make it mandatory, in the context of distribution of healthcare professionals equally among various sectors, so that the noone can take the advantage from the reservation system and the ultimate objective of fair healthcare services to both privileged and under-privileged is intact.
I think in today’s time reservation has lost its purpose. Many deserving and economically stricken students are losing opportunities.
And something as crucial as healthcare needs to revise these laws if we want country to actually progress. And not only healthcare, even institutes of national importance like IITs and IIMs have similar crisis.
People question on why the youth of country is rapidly moving abroad. And by now they should know the answer.