New Delhi: More than 100 candidates belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) category have been allotted postgraduate medical seats in private colleges in the first round of NEET-PG 2026 counselling, the Times of India reported.According to the seat allotment list, the candidates’ category was recorded as EWS, while their allotted seat category was open and the quota was listed as self-financed ‘merit seat’.Tuition fees for some of the allotted courses can go up to Rs 2.1 crore over three years, the report said.According to the report, among the candidates allotted seats, one student had a NEET-PG rank of 79,396, who secured MS obstetrics and gynaecology at Padmashree Dr DY Patil Medical College in Navi Mumbai. The three-year tuition fee for the course is around Rs 2 crore.Another candidate, ranked 71,263, was allotted MD radio-diagnosis at Raja Rajeswari Medical College in Bengaluru, where the three-year tuition fee is around Rs 1.8 crore, the report said.The candidates had listed these colleges and courses among their counselling choices and were allotted seats based on their preferences and rank. They can retain their seats, seek an upgrade or exit.The Union government had in 2019 introduced the EWS quota dubbing it as ‘welfare of the poor’ for sections of society not included in reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. In other words, this quota was specifically introduced to cover upper caste communities, blatantly overriding the intent of reservations and using it as a poverty alleviation programme instead of an instrument to correct social injustice.