Apprehensions about PG medical admissions and boycott of work to demand a better deal notwithstanding, in-service government doctors have this year appropriated almost all postgraduate seats in government colleges, even without a high score in NEET-PG.
A provisional merit list released by the state selection committee for postgraduate degree and diploma seats in government colleges, government quota in self-financing colleges and Raja Muthiah Medical College, only 25 of 4,294 candidates are from the non-service-category. In the first phase of counselling, 709 government doctors were allotted seats, versus 13 from the non-service-category.
“This was expected and we had little time to do anything about it. We were forced to follow the high court order,” selection committee secretary G Selvaraju said.
On April 17, a single judge of the Madras high court ruled that Tamil Nadu must follow the latest MCI regulations in awarding of incentive marks to in-service candidates. As against a maximum of 10 marks under state rules, the MCI regulation envisaged a maximum of 30% of marks scored by a candidate in the NEET-PG examination as service incentive. Government doctors perceived it as a setback, filed appeals and went on strike. After a division bench delivered a split verdict, the third judge upheld the MCI rules, paving the way for award of 30% of NEET-PG score as incentive for canddiates. It ushered in a single rank list scheme and did away with reserving 50% of available seats in the government quota for inservice candidates.
As a result, this year, almost all PG medical seats on offer have been bagged by service candidates. For instance, the first non-service candidate to get a seat was Dr Mohamed Thariq S, who scored 1,109 in NEET-PG. He was called after 514 government doctors, many of whom scored less than him but bagged seats in the prestigious Madras Medical College (MMC). Another candidate, Dr Srinivasan M, with 1,102 in NEETPG, ranked fourth in the state after the state added 330.74 marks (30% of his NEET score) for three years of service in government hospitals. He was allotted MD (radio diagnosis) seat in MMC.
Health department officials agree that this is not a fair way to conduct counselling. “We are framing rules for impartial incentives. A committee comprising of various bodies of doctors and the government are in the panel to ensure fair play . It will be introduced from the next academic year,” health secretary J Radhakrishnan said.
A provisional merit list released by the state selection committee for postgraduate degree and diploma seats in government colleges, government quota in self-financing colleges and Raja Muthiah Medical College, only 25 of 4,294 candidates are from the non-service-category. In the first phase of counselling, 709 government doctors were allotted seats, versus 13 from the non-service-category.
“This was expected and we had little time to do anything about it. We were forced to follow the high court order,” selection committee secretary G Selvaraju said.
On April 17, a single judge of the Madras high court ruled that Tamil Nadu must follow the latest MCI regulations in awarding of incentive marks to in-service candidates. As against a maximum of 10 marks under state rules, the MCI regulation envisaged a maximum of 30% of marks scored by a candidate in the NEET-PG examination as service incentive. Government doctors perceived it as a setback, filed appeals and went on strike. After a division bench delivered a split verdict, the third judge upheld the MCI rules, paving the way for award of 30% of NEET-PG score as incentive for canddiates. It ushered in a single rank list scheme and did away with reserving 50% of available seats in the government quota for inservice candidates.
As a result, this year, almost all PG medical seats on offer have been bagged by service candidates. For instance, the first non-service candidate to get a seat was Dr Mohamed Thariq S, who scored 1,109 in NEET-PG. He was called after 514 government doctors, many of whom scored less than him but bagged seats in the prestigious Madras Medical College (MMC). Another candidate, Dr Srinivasan M, with 1,102 in NEETPG, ranked fourth in the state after the state added 330.74 marks (30% of his NEET score) for three years of service in government hospitals. He was allotted MD (radio diagnosis) seat in MMC.
Health department officials agree that this is not a fair way to conduct counselling. “We are framing rules for impartial incentives. A committee comprising of various bodies of doctors and the government are in the panel to ensure fair play . It will be introduced from the next academic year,” health secretary J Radhakrishnan said.