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The Hindu
11 hours ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Union Health Ministry's intervention sought to protect interest of Chandigarh's GMCH students
MBBS students and their parents at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, have sought the intervention of the Union Health Ministry to halt the proposed reallocation of State quota seats to the all-India quota (AIQ) for admission to postgraduate (MD/MS) courses in the academic year 2024–25. As the admission process is currently under way, GMCH has, through a notification dated June 3, stated that half of the State quota seats for postgraduate admissions will now be filled on the basis of all-India merit under NEET-PG 2024. The notification further mentioned that the third counselling round for the remaining (32) State quota seats will be filled equally based on Institutional Preference and AIQ rank obtained in NEET-PG. The GMCH offers approximately 148 postgraduate seats, distributed between the State and all-India quotas. Students and parents have raised objections to the revised mechanism. 'We are opposing this decision because following this notification, half of the State quota seats would be filled through the all-India quota, which would rise up to 75%, exceeding the set National Medical Commission (NMC) norms that limit AIQ to 50% across the country,' Dr. Sanjeev Bhatia and Dr. A.K. Agarwal, who are representing the affected group, said. 'This shifting of seats puts GMCH students at a significant disadvantage. The GMCH would effectively be the only college in India with 75% of its PG seats under AIQ, which is grossly unjust. If such an unwanted change — which is apparently against the spirit of existing five-judge Supreme Court judgment allowing 50% Institutional Preference quota seats — is enforced, then all medical colleges across India should follow the same 75% AIQ rule, giving GMCH students equal rights. There should be uniformity,' Dr. Bhatia said. 'We request immediate intervention of the Union Health Ministry, Director General of Health Services and NMC to ensure this discrepancy is addressed and to protect the rightful interest of GMCH students. A uniform and fair national policy is essential. The GMCH students and their parents request for fair and equitable justice at par with all other students all over India,' he added.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Chandigarh PG medical seats to stay with all-India pool, says High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the Chandigarh administration's decision to reallocate vacant Union Territory (UT) quota seats in postgraduate (PG) medical courses to the All India Quota (AIQ), rejecting a challenge from candidates who argued the move violated a Supreme Court judgment. A division bench of Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu and Justice H.S. Grewal dismissed the petition filed by Avijit Chander and others, who had opposed a June 3 notification that diverted unfilled UT Pool seats at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, to the AIQ pool. The petitioners had argued these seats should have gone to the Institutional Preference (IP) category under the state quota for local candidates. Their counsel, senior advocate Gurminder Singh, said, 'While taking a complete U-turn… without any authority of law and also in complete violation of Shrey Goel's judgment, respondent No. 2 has issued the impugned public notice… wherein vacant U.T. Pool seats have been diverted to A.I.Q. against [the] maximum limit of 50%.' But the court found no merit in the claim, ruling that the matter of residence-based reservation in PG medical courses had already been settled by the Supreme Court. 'This Court is not persuaded with the arguments raised by learned senior counsel… the legal issue has already been adjudicated,' said Justice Sindhu. The case has its roots in the Supreme Court's January 29 verdict in Dr. Tanvi Behl v. Shrey Goel & Others, which struck down the practice of reserving PG medical seats on the basis of residence in UT Chandigarh. The apex court had ruled that such a reservation was 'not permissible', but allowed students already admitted or graduated to remain unaffected. Following this, the Chandigarh administration initially said in April that vacant UT Pool seats would be moved to the IP category. However, in a fresh notice on June 3, it reassigned them to the AIQ instead, sparking the present legal challenge. The petitioners argued that the administration's about-turn violated both the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court ruling and exceeded the 50% limit allowed for AIQ seats. But the high court noted that the seat matrix – 75 for AIQ and 76 for State Quota (plus four EWS) – remained within permissible limits, and that the reallocation aligned with the Supreme Court's broader emphasis on merit-based admissions. 'Consequently, there is no option, except to dismiss the petition,' the bench concluded in its order, delivered on June 10.
