CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered allocating 50 per cent seats in super-specialty courses in government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu to in-service government doctors for the academic year 2021-22.
Justice M Dhandapani directed the State government to implement the G.O. dated November 7, 2020, on a petition filed by Dr D Suresh, an assistant professor of the Madras Medical College, after considering the submissions made by senior counsel P Wilson and advocate G Sankaran.
The HC order comes after a bench of the Supreme Court in 2020, based on an appeal of the Kerala government, held that 50 per cent of super specialty seats can be allotted to in-service doctors in 2021-22 if there is no legal impediment. It may be recalled that Tamil Nadu government had allotted 50 per cent of super-specialty seats to in-service doctors by conducting a state-level entrance test till 2016.
After the national eligibility cum entrance test (NEET) came into force, NEET-PG score and weightage for services in rural/difficult/hilly regions was taken into consideration for admission. The Medical Council of India, however, amended its regulations to disallow such reservation. The Centre too objected to the State quota. The matter reached the courts after in-service and non-service doctors took legal recourse.
The petitioner had noted that a larger bench of Supreme Court had given a ruling that rule 9 of MCI regulations, 2000, does not affect the States providing separate reservation for in-service doctors seeking admission to postgraduate courses. Following the apex court order, the Tamil Nadu government issued two GOs providing 50 per cent reservation of seats in PG and super-specialty courses for government doctors.