Ambika Bhardwaj
Published On: January 10, 2022 at 15:15 IST
Following a significant postponement in the counselling of students for NEET-PG admittance, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that the procedure will begin on January 12, 2022.
The announcement came after the Supreme Court’s approval of the resumption of medical counselling for NEET-PG admissions in 2021-22, as well as the authenticity of the 27% OBC quota.
Several doctors who have been expecting for admission to postgraduate courses will be relieved by the start of the counselling sessions.
On Friday, an interim order was issued by a bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and AS Bopanna, which had heard arguments for two days in a row on the applicability of the Rs 8 lakh yearly income factors for assessing the economically weaker section (EWS).
The Supreme Court issued the interim order in response to a batch of complaints lodged by doctors demanding a notification issued by the Centre and the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) on July 29, 2021, providing 27% reservation for OBC and 10% reservation for EWS in the National Eligibility Cumulative Entrance Test (NEET-PG) enrollment for medical colleges for the academic year 2021-22.
The Supreme Court’s decision and Mansukh Mandaviya’s announcement are welcome news for the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), which in recent times objected the postponement in the beginning of NEET-PG counselling.
It has also petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming that the admissions process must begin immediately.
It estimates that nearly 45,000 candidates are chosen as postgraduate (PG) doctors every year through the NEET-PG, and that disruptions in counselling have resulted in no junior doctors being admitted in 2021.
FORDA stated that second and third-year PG doctors are managing patients and have a work overload as a result of the Covid pandemic.
It called off its protest on December 31 after the government agreed to look into its requests.
Also read: What is the current structure of reservation in India?