SC pulls up counselling panel over vacant seats in NEET-PG

New Delhi, June 8

As 1,456 seats remain vacant, the Supreme Court today pulled up the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for not filling seats in NEET-PG admissions, saying it would not only put aspirants in difficulty but also cause dearth of qualified doctors.

“What would you get in leaving a seat vacant when we are in need of doctors? Where are we leading? Why is there no streamlining and stress-less education system? Do you know the stress level of students and their parents?” a Bench led by Justice MR Shah asked the MCC.

It asked the MCC and the Centre to explain why the seats were not filled and posted the matter for hearing tomorrow. The petition has been filed by doctors who appeared for NEET-PG 2021 and participated in rounds 1 and 2 of counselling.

Later, the MCC told the court that the software used for NEET-PG 2021 counselling was now closed and hence, it can’t fill 1,456 vacant seats by conducting a special stray round of counselling. The counselling process for two academic sessions (2021 and 2022) can’t run concurrently, the MCC submitted in an affidavit.