Covid warriors’ children to get admission quota to MBBS and BDS

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Shri Harsh Vardhan announced on Thursday that the central government has introduced a new category for the children of Covid warriors in the guidelines for selection and nomination of candidates against the Central Pool Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery(MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery(BDS) seats for the academic Year 2020-21. 

This new category will be called ‘Wards of Covid Warriors’, the minister said in a tweet. He said that  the move recognises the need to dignify and honour the contributions of all those who treated and managed coronavirus patients.A press release by the ministry said that five central pools will be reserved for this new category.

The minister recounted definition of ‘Covid Warrior’ as laid down by Government of India while announcing the insurance package of Rs 50 lakhs for them. Covid warriors are 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 this. 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, going by government definition.

As for the states and union territories, the minister added that their respective governments will certify the eligibility for this category.

COVID warriors are 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 this.The selection of candidates will be made by the Medical Council Committee (MCC) through online application on the basis of rank obtained in NEET-2020 conducted by National Testing Agency(NTA).

India’s coronavirus caseload has risen to 89.58 lakh with fresh 45,576 infections, while the number of recoveries has surged to over 83.83 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 93.58 per cent, according health ministry data. 

Source: The Hindu, The Hindustan Times