PG medical counselling in states before all-India level

PG medical counselling in states before all-India level

SC Reverses Process, Asks MCI To Notify New Schedule 

To contain the yearly phenomenon of all-India quota post-graduate medical seats lapsing to states, the Supreme Court on Friday accepted the Union health ministry’s proposal and directed Medical Council of India to notify a new counselling schedule.

Under the new schedule, which reverses the earlier process, the states will first hold counseling to fill their PG seats quota in state government medical colleges from the coming academic year (2014-15). It will be followed by the all-India quota counselling.

Appearing for the health ministry, additional solicitor general Sidharth Luthra informed a bench of Justices A K Patnaik and F M I Kalifulla that every year, many all-India quota seats used to lapse to the states because of the deliberate suppression of vacancy position in PG seats by the states.

The bench saw merit in the health ministry’s proposal and ordered its implementation after MCI agreed to it.

Under the new proposal, the first round of counseling by the states will get over by March 30 followed by the first round of all-India quota counseling from April 4-16.

The second round of state counseling will be from April 27 to May 3, followed by all-India quota counseling from May 9 to May 13.

But in the third round of counseling, the position reverses. All-India quota counseling will be held from May 25 to June 9 followed by state counselling from June 20 to June 25.

The SC move is aimed at checking deliberate suppression of vacancy position in PG seats by the states