Tamil Nadu told to surrender super-speciality medical seats to AIQ counselling; move draws flak
Tamil Nadu had to surrender nearly 130 super-speciality medical seats meant for in-service candidates to the All India Quota (AIQ) counselling before conducting its second round of counselling. This was after the Directorate-General of Health Services (DGHS) asked the State to revert the vacant in-service seats to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for all-India counselling.
The decision has drawn criticism from the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association (TNMOA) as it sees this as going against the 50% reservation for in-service candidates. TNMOA State secretary M. Akilan said that usually, two rounds of counselling are held for the 215 super-speciality seats reserved for the in-service doctors. 'It is only after this that the vacant seats would be surrendered for the AIQ. But this time, the State has surrendered the seats before conducting the second round. As of now, 75-78 seats have been filled by in-service candidates... They should have sought legal opinion or asked the government before deciding. This goes against the 50% reservation for in-service doctors,' he said.
Official sources said the State had taken up the issue with the DGHS as doctors strongly objected to the surrender of the seats. Tamil Nadu Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar wrote to the DGHS and the Union Health Secretary on June 9, saying that according to a Supreme Court order, 50% of the seats in the super-speciality courses at government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu are reserved for in-service candidates. The NEET Super Speciality (SS) counselling for the State quota in-service candidates was completed on May 27, and a letter was sent to the DGHS on May 29, requesting it to indicate the schedule for the State's second round of counselling to allow upgradation for in-service candidates.
He said several representations were being received from in-service candidates for upgradation in the second round of the State quota counselling. Hence, all the seats reserved for them should be shown in the second round of the State counselling since 50% of seats are reserved exclusively for in-service candidates. He sought early intervention to enable the candidates to get the full benefit of the Supreme Court order.
In a letter dated June 3, the DGHS asked Tamil Nadu to revert the vacant seats. the DGHS referred to Tamil Nadu Selection Committee's request to the MCC to submit the State schedule for round two of NEET SS counselling to allow upgradation to in-service candidates and fill the remaining in-service seats before they are surrendered to the AIQ counselling. However, it said the matter was taken forward to higher authorities but 'the request has not been acceded to since the delay in commencement of round-2 will hamper the whole All India schedule' that has been approved by the Union Health Ministry and ratified by the Supreme Court.
The State counselling schedule, it said, had to run in tandem with the All India counselling schedule. So, conducting round two of State counselling before round two of All India counselling was not feasible. The DGHS asked the Selection Committee to revert the vacant in-service seats to the MCC to be included in the All India seat matrix since round two of All India counselling had begun as per schedule.
Dr. Akilan, in a letter to the Health Secretary, said the decision of the State government to surrender the super-speciality seats for the AIQ immediately after the first round of counselling was a matter of concern. 'This premature surrender of seats is unprecedented and has not been adopted by any other State in the country. This move severely affects the prospects of service doctors who have dedicated years to serving in government institutions, often in challenging and underserved areas,' he said.
The TNMOA urged the government to withhold the surrender of super-speciality seats until the later stages of the counselling process.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Assam will deport 'foreigners' even if their names feature in NRC: Himanta
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the State government's current policy is to push back foreigners even if their names are found in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The way the NRC was carried out in Assam leaves a lot of scope for doubt, and it cannot be the only document for determining a person's citizenship, Mr. Sarma said. The NRC, an official record of bonafide Indian citizens living in Assam, was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and released on August 31, 2019, leaving out more than 19 lakh applicants. However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India, leaving the controversial document without any official validity. ''Many people had entered their names in the NRC by using unfair means. So we have adopted the policy of pushing back (foreigners) if the authorities are absolutely convinced that the persons concerned are foreigners,'' the CM said on the sidelines of a programme in Darrang on Wednesday. 'Doubtful' citizens A large number of people have been picked up from across Assam since last month on suspicion of being doubtful citizens, as part of a nationwide drive, and many of them were pushed back to Bangladesh. Some of them returned after the neighbouring nation refused to accept them as their citizens. ''Personally, I am not convinced that the presence of a name in the NRC alone is enough to determine that someone is not an illegal migrant,'' he said. Asked whether a section of officials did not carry out the NRC exercise with due diligence, Mr. Sarma said that is a possibility. Harsh Mander Mr. Sarma alleged that social activist and author Harsh Mander had camped in Assam for two years, and sent some youths from the state to America and England for education and encouraged them to manipulate the NRC. "These matters came to my knowledge after I became the chief minister,'' he said. Mr. Sarma, speaking on detection and deportation of foreigners, during a special assembly session on June 9, had said the state government will implement the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, for the purpose, which allows the district commissioners to declare illegal immigrants and evict them.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: No ramp, lift in office meant to aid individuals with disabilities
Meant to provide justice to disabled persons, the office of the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities in Sector 18, which is situated on the first floor, has no facility of lift or ramp. The commission, which has the responsibility to ensure the effective implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, itself is ignoring the Sections 40 and 44 which mandate the accessibility of physical infrastructure to the disabled persons, say visitors. The RPWD Act, 2016, specifies 21 types of disabilities. The Section 44 of the RPwD Act goes on to state that no establishment shall be granted permission to build any structure if the building plan does not adhere to the rules under Section 40 and no establishment shall be issued a certificate of completion or allowed to take occupation of a building unless it has adhered to such rules. In the already built infrastructure, the Act calls for provisions for making it accessible to disabled persons. After the Supreme Court directions to states to appoint commissioners for persons with disabilities, the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities was set up in Chandigarh in September 2024. The commissioner was appointed and given office in Sector 18, the same building that houses Chandigarh Right to Service Commission and other offices. As many as 50 cases were listed in the past nine months in the commission that has quasi-judicial powers with about 60% being settled, said commissioner Madhvi Kataria. 'I have written to the social welfare department numerous times to either have the office on the ground floor or make accessibility provisions. The matter has been taken up with the administrator as well. We are hopeful to have a positive outcome,' she said. As a temporary arrangement, the cases related to people with locomotor disability are heard on the ground floor who are unable to walk upstairs. National Association for the Blind's executive member Shiv Kumar, who suffers from visual disability, said, 'Not just locomotor disability, the office structure is not friendly for those with visual, hearing and speech disabilities as there are no tactile tiles on floor, no sign language and braille boards in place. Many people are not even aware of the commission's office because there is no board, website or any awareness about the commission.' Navpreet Ganga, LLB student from Panjan University, who uses crutch to walk, said, 'Nothing feels more demeaning than entering a building with no ramp, no lift, walking on tactile-less floors and having washrooms not made for specially abled.' Social welfare secretary Anuradha Chagti refused to comment on the issue. As per the RPwD Rules, 2017, Harmonised Guidelines for Universal Accessibility have been framed on measures to make physical environment, transportation, information and communications accessible to disabled persons. Among the measures missing in the commission's office are braille/tactile features along with appropriate wayfinding signages, tactile guiding surface indicators and colour contrast at site entrance. There is no floor demarcation in the parking area for people with disability, and also the designated parking is above normal height and only for two wheelers. No beepers are installed at the main entrance point to enable people with visual impairments to locate them. No tactile layout plan along with braille and audio system is there. The guidelines also mention the need to have handrails with braille plates indicating specific location on both sides of the corridors.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Assam will deport 'foreigners' even if their names feature in NRC: Himanta
Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the state government's current policy is to push back foreigners even if their names are found in the National Register of Citizens . The way the NRC was carried out in Assam leaves a lot of scope for doubt, and it cannot be the only document for determining a person's citizenship, Sarma said. The NRC, an official record of bonafide Indian citizens living in Assam, was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and released on August 31, 2019, leaving out more than 19 lakh applicants. However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India, leaving the controversial document without any official validity. ''Many people had entered their names in the NRC by using unfair means. So we have adopted the policy of pushing back if the authorities are absolutely convinced that the persons concerned are foreigners,'' the CM said on the sidelines of a programme in Darrang on Wednesday. A large number of people have been picked up from across Assam since last month on suspicion of being doubtful citizens, as part of a nationwide drive, and many of them were pushed back to Bangladesh. Some of them returned after the neighbouring nation refused to accept them as their citizens. ''Personally, I am not convinced that the presence of a name in the NRC alone is enough to determine that someone is not an illegal migrant,'' he said. Asked whether a section of officials did not carry out the NRC exercise with due diligence, Sarma said that is a possibility. Sarma alleged that social activist and author Harsh Mander had camped in Assam for two years, and sent some youths from the state to America and England for education and encouraged them to manipulate the NRC. "These matters came to my knowledge after I became the chief minister,'' he said. Sarma, speaking on detection and deportation of foreigners, during a special assembly session on June 9, had said the state government will implement the Immigrants Act, 1950, for the purpose, which allows the district commissioners to declare illegal immigrants and evict them.
