The Central Government, on Thursday, November 25, informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to reconsider the Rupees 8 lakh annual income ceiling for identifying the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and will make a new decision within four weeks. The Centre further stated that NEET admissions counselling will be postponed for another four weeks until a new decision on EWS criterion is made.

It may be noted that the Supreme Court had previously highlighted many concerns regarding this EWS criteria, concluding that it appeared to constitute arbitra.  When the case was heard on Thursday, India's Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, told the court, "In this case, I've been told that the government has decided to reexamine the criteria. Within four weeks, we will organise a committee and make a new decision. The counselling will be suspended till then. I reaffirm my commitment ".

As a result of this development, Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar, who is representing the petitioners, urged that the EWS implementation be postponed until the following academic year, as admissions for this year have already been delayed, while hearing a slew of NEET-AIQ-related petitions.

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