A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to pass interim orders on a plea by the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers’ Association demanding exclusive quota for government service doctors in various States for admission to postgraduate medical degree courses.
The five-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is examining the constitutionality of two provisions in the Medical Council of India’s Post Graduate Medical Regulations which provide 30% bonus marks in PG NEET exam for in-service doctors who have worked for at least three years in remote, difficult, rural areas in a State. Another provision provides reservation for government doctors only in postgraduate diploma courses and not degree courses.
Senior advocate Arvind Dattar, for the association, submitted that the 30% incentive given to government doctors with rural work experience queers the chances of their counterparts who have urban experience.
Explaining the conundrum, Mr. Dattar said, for example, if 100 seats are available for PG studies for candidates who cleared the NEET exam, then 50% goes for the All India quota. Of the remaining 50% seats available under the State quota, 25 are for open merit students and the rest 25 are for in-service doctors.
“Quantum jump”
The case is concerned with this latter 25% seats for government service doctors. The 30% incentive given to government doctors with rural work experience queers the chances of their counterparts who have urban experience. The candidates with rural experience get a “quantum jump” over those who have worked in urban regions in a State. Besides, Mr. Dattar argued that in States like Goa, there are hardly any rural or remote places. He submitted that the MCI cannot “take away the power of the States to reserve seats” under its 50% quota.
Concurrent List
The petitioners contended that though the power of “the coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education” is within the exclusive domain of the Union, the fact that “medical education” comes under the Concurrent List implies that the State is not denuded of powers to legislate on the manner and method for PG medical admissions.
