India, July 30 -- The state government has scrapped the contentious EWS quota in private medical colleges, after fierce opposition from parents who refused to back down. The 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) was introduced in undergraduate courses, in the general category, without a corresponding increase in the number of seats. This would shrink the number of seats available on merit, currently just 3,500.

The quota was introduced with no formal announcement; it was merely mentioned in the admission brochure released by the state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell before admissions began recently, a rude shock to parents and students alike.

Parents had sent emails to state medical education minister Hasan Mushrif,...