The All India Quota (AIQ) is a national system that allocates seats in postgraduate medical courses across India based purely on merit, without considering state boundaries or domicile requirements. Under this framework, 50 percent of all MD, MS, and PG Diploma seats in government medical colleges are reserved for the AIQ, allowing candidates to apply to any government medical college nationwide regardless of where they completed their undergraduate studies. The remaining 50 percent of seats fall under State Quota, managed by individual state authorities and restricted to candidates meeting specific domicile criteria. Originating from a 1986 Supreme Court directive aimed at ensuring equal opportunities in medical education, the quota was initially set at 25 percent before expanding to 50 percent in 2009. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) oversees the entire AIQ counselling process online, conducting registrations, choice filling, seat allotment, and institutional reporting for eligible NEET PG candidates.
Nationwide Impact and Regional Integration Benefits
The All India Quota plays a vital role in promoting national integration within medical education by enabling students from smaller states or rural areas to access premier government medical colleges across the country. It simultaneously allows urban students to experience healthcare challenges in diverse regions, broadening their understanding of public health issues. By facilitating student mobility and exposure to different healthcare environments, the AIQ encourages a more equitable distribution of medical professionals nationwide. Over time, this system has significantly reduced regional disparities in medical training quality and helped address skill gaps in the national health workforce, ensuring better healthcare delivery across various states and communities.
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