Telangana High Court has passed an interim direction suspending the State government’s decision to surrender medical post-graduate diploma courses for securing more PG medicine seats for the year 2020-21.
A bench of Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice T. Amarnath Goud gave the order, after hearing a petition filed by an in-service doctor P. Bhavana. In her petition, the doctor stated that he lost an opportunity to pursue medical PG diploma course in Medical Radio Diagnostics due to the government’s decision.
The decision was taken by Medical Council of India, Union Ministry of Health, State government and the University of Health Sciences. Six medical colleges in the State, both government and private, surrendered 18 medical PG diploma course seats to secure an equal number of medical PG courses.
With this, these medical colleges will have 18 PG course seats instead of diploma courses. Normally, doctors who join government service (in-service doctors) are given weightage of marks in getting admission to medical PG diploma courses. In-service doctors aspiring to join diploma course availing the weightage of marks are at a disadvantage because of the surrendering of diploma courses.
The decision would be helpful to private medical colleges and deprive the government doctors rendering services in rural areas of pursuing diploma courses. This is not the way the government doctors, who are waging a relentless war against COVID-19, should be treated, the bench observed.
“The decision only benefits private medical colleges and deprives poor people of the services of an efficient government doctor with upgraded skills,” the bench said in its order. “The decision also undermines the public health care system and prima facie against the public interest and cannot be taken in the present circumstances,” the order said.
The bench issued notices to the Central and State governments along with MCI, Health University, Kakatiya Medical College - Warangal, Pratima Medical College - Karimnagar, Kamineni Medical College, MNR Medical College and Gandhi Medical College to file their counter affidavits by June 1.
