Relief for medical PG aspirants: NEET-PG counselling to start from Jan 12

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 9

In a much-awaited move on Sunday, the Ministry of Health said the process of counselling for admission to NEET-PG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate) course would start from January 12.

NEET-PG was held on September 11 last after being twice rescheduled and counselling was to start in October after the declaration of results.

The process was stalled over a slew of petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the July 29, 2021 notification of the Government providing 27 per cent reservation to Other Backward Classes and 10 per cent to students from Economically Weaker Sections in the All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme of the Centre for undergraduate and postgraduate medical, dental courses (MBBS/MD/MS/Diploma/BDS/MDS) from academic year 2021-22 onwards.

The petitions challenged the applicability of Rs 8 lakh annual income limit for the EWS beneficiaries while calling for merit based admissions with minimum reservation in medical PG courses.

The Supreme Court on Friday passed an interim order allowing the reservations and said there was an urgent need to commence counselling.

“In accordance with the assurance given to resident doctors by the health ministry and following the Supreme Court orders, The Medical Counselling Committee will commence counselling for NEET-PG admissions from January 12. This will boost India’s efforts to fight Covid 19. Congratulations to all the aspirants,” health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted today.

On July 29, 2021 the Centre had announced 27 per cent and 10 per cent reservation (for both UG and PG courses) for students taking admission against all India quota seats in the state level medical and dental colleges.

The All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the Supreme Court to provide for domicile-free merit based opportunities to students from any state to aspire to study in a good medical college located in another state.

AIQ consists of 15 percent of the total available UG and 50 per cent of the total available PG seats in government medical colleges. Initially, there was no reservation in the AIQ Scheme up to 2007. In 2007, the SC introduced a reservation of 15 pc for SCs and 7.5 pc for STs in the AIQ Scheme.

When the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective in 2007 providing for uniform 27 pc reservation to OBCs, the same was implemented in Central Educational Institutions namely Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Harding Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University and others. But this was not extended to the AIQ seats of state medical and dental colleges.

The July 29, 2021 notification filled the gap.

The decision is to annually benefit 1500 OBC students in MBBS and 2500 OBC students in PG courses besides 550 EWS students in MBBS and 1000 EWS students in PG.

With the counselling set to commence, medical colleges will have a fresh pool of NEET PG students to be enlisted in the fight against Covid 19.

Resident doctors across various colleges had been protesting the delay in NEET PG counselling.