CHENNAI: The Union health ministry has debarred 47 doctors, including two who had applied for counselling from TN, from participating in NEET PG medical counselling as they had failed to join courses after blocking seats last year. This is probably the first time that the ministry has debarred students from participating in counselling for failing to join agreed courses. The rule was introduced to discourage students from ‘wasting’ seats.
The state selection committee, last week, received a communication from the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) that two students who took All-India Quota (AIQ) seats last year have again applied for counselling in the state this year and they are ineligible to participate in the counselling.
The MCC has strengthened the rules this year to prevent medical seats from going to waste as several students fail to join agreed courses. As per the new MCC rules, candidates who fail to join courses after participating in a special stray vacancy round of counselling cannot write NEET-PG.
In 2022, 127 candidates failed to take up seats
Such candidates will be debarred from participating in the NEET-PG exam and counselling and must forfeit Rs 50,000 if they fail to report to the allotted college. An undertaking is also taken from candidates who wish to take part in the special stray vacancy round with the above-mentioned conditions.
Even after participating in the special stray round of counselling in 2022, a total of 127 candidates failed to report at the allotted colleges, the notification from the MCC said. So, the MCC has sought details of these 127 candidates from the National Board of Examination (NBE) which conducts the NEET exam to see if any of them participated in NeeT 2023-2024. It was found that 47 such candidates wrote PG NeeT. Hence, the 47 candidates were termed ineligible to participate in NEE T-PG counselling for 2023-2024, according to the notification.
Selection committee officials last year said the state surrendered around 1,100 PG medical seats to the Centre. The state may release the NEEeeT rank list this week and counselling may start before July 31.