NEET PG aspirants in quandry over Madras HC directive

Chennai: The Madras High Court directive to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), New Delhi, and Tamil Nadu’s State selection committee to withhold seat allotments under the all-India quota and State quota until further instructions have left Candidates for postgraduate medical admissions across India in a state of flux.

The state of Tamil Nadu has around 1,600 PG medical seats spread over 26 government and private medical colleges with a good number being super specialty seats.

The Court directive comes in response to petitions moved by in-service candidates, seeking a court directive to the DGHS to comply with PG Medical Education Regulations. This is to be done by awarding of weightage marks for service rendered in remote/difficult areas and reservation of 50 per cent seats for such service candidates under all-India quota.

Justice S Vaidyanathan, said the departments while going ahead with counselling, were not to allot seats until further directions from the court.

However, students at large are opposing the incentive marks scheme and reservation of seats, as well. Last year, 500 seats saw 98 percent service candidates on the 500-odd seats, something that had never happened earlier.

The rest going to the differently abled and those of reserved category. Speaking to News Today, a PG candidate, preferring anonymity, said, "There was no value for merit. I got 764 out of 1,200 for NEET-PG and landed rank 666 out of 1.28 lakh candidates. But an in-service candidate with just 500 marks can get 30 percent incentive marks and be ahead of me for the seat.”

There is a claim made that some of the hilly and rural areas are not such difficult postings.Secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality, Dr G Ravindranath, said, “There is confusion about the admission process because of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Central government. In 2012, the MCI brought in the 10-30 percent marks incentive to those working in hilly or rural terrain when it is not actually a deciding authority. It grabbed power from the Central government. Since unemployment is a problem, doctors are competing to be in-service doctors.”

Expressing a grouse he said that the Medical Recruitment Board (MRB) was not conducting regular exams for the appointment of doctors. “Many of them are currently put on waiting list. For the past two years, exams have not been conducted. MRB has to conduct exams every year,” he reinforced.