Playing with future of doctors: SC rebukes Centre over 1,456 vacant NEET-PG seats
Premium- The court also warned that it is considering asking the Centre to pay compensation to the doctors for playing with their future.
Owing to the fact that nearly 1,500 post-graduate medical seats are going vacant, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuked the Centre saying “You are playing with the future of doctors." It further directed the Centre and the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to file an affidavit explaining why these seats were not filled by conducting an additional mop-up counselling round.
“Even if a single seat is vacant, it should be filled and not allowed to be wasted…If students are not given admission, we will pass compensation orders against you for playing with the lives and future of doctors," the bench of justices MR Shah and Aniruddha Bose said. The bench was hearing a petition filed by seven doctors seeking a special round of counselling for the 1,456 seats that remained vacant after the last NEET-PG 2021-22 mop-up counselling round in May.
“What will you (Centre) get by keeping the seats vacant when you require so many doctors and super specialists? You should have conducted another mop-up round. Is there any responsibility felt by you? Every time the court has to intervene. Why are you waiting for the court’s order? This is a serious matter concerning the future of doctors. You are playing with their futures and there is a dearth of doctors in our country," the bench said.
Meanwhile, the Centre told that any further mop-up counselling rounds will create difficulties for the NEET-PG 2022 counselling scheduled to begin in July.
No law officer appeared on behalf of the Centre
On Tuesday, no law officer appeared for the Centre even though the court had directed the petitioner to serve a copy on the Centre and additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati. A lawyer appearing for the Centre told the court that ASG Balbir Singh was to appear but he is in personal difficulty and cannot appear.
This angered the court further. The bench said, “This is a very important matter concerning medical admissions. The Union government is not run by a single officer. Tell him to remain present tomorrow." The court directed the Centre and MCC to file responses within the end of this day and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.