Shri Amit Deshmukh, the Maharashtra Medical Education Minister announces shift to new "One Maharashtra, One Merit"

- The 70:30 regional quota process for admission to medical courses has been done away with –

Mumbai, September 8, 2020: - Admissions to medical degree courses in the state were earlier based on 70% regional quota and 30% state level quota.

However, now that the 70:30 regional quota system has been scrapped, there will be a "One Maharashtra, One Merit" medical admission process, which was announced by the Minister of Medical Education Shri Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh in the Assembly.

Earlier, the remaining three regional divisions were divided into rest of Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha.  With 30% of seats being available for candidates from across the state. The number of colleges and the seat distribution differed among the three regional divisions and thus the regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha would suffer in terms of meritorious candidates being unable to get admissions.  There was an injustice being done to the meritorious students in the 70:30 quota system. There has been a continuous demand from the Marathwada region to change the system by students, parents and public representatives.

Until now, admission to medical courses was based on the merits of NEET, the only general entrance exam at the national level.  The admission process was being conducted through the State General Entrance Examination Cell.  Meritorious students were denied admission due to the 70:30 quota system, so the government decided to do away with it.  Accordingly, notification in this regard has been issued on 4 September 2020 to change the admission rules for Health Science degree courses. The move will allow meritorious students from across the state to get admissions in the college of their choice.