Thread by @barandbench

#SupremeCourt to hear the plea seeking a special stray round of counseling in order to fill in the vacant postgraduate medical seats under the AIQ in NEET 2021
#NEET2021 @advocate_tanvi @indlawyer

[NEET-PG 2021] Counselling software closed: Central government opposes plea in Supreme Court seeking stray round

barandbench.com/news/neet-pg-2…

Petitioners to contend today that even if the software is closed, looking at the gravity and urgency a mechanism can be developed to fill in the vacant seats
#SupremeCourt #NEET2021

The medical students to argue today that an additional round can be completed in a maximum span of a week and therefore there is no question of clash of counselling for 2 years #SupremeCourt #NEET2021

Hearing begins

Justice Shah: Where is the counter affidavit?

Adv Kunal Cheema appears for the plea seeking to revert back seats to states

Justice Shah: We have not received affiavit. we only read in newspapers. Don't take this as adversarial.

SC: Don't stand on the technicalities. It is about 1400 medical seats. Govt wants the doctors also and also the doctors with PG and super speciality docs also. We need doc's as there is a dearth of them. 1400 is not a small number @advocate_tanvi

SC: We have read in newspapers. Software issue etc. We are concerned with nation as whole and country will get 1400 plus super speciality doctors and it is in larger public interest. Will you benefit from this? You can take a decision and do it else we have to

SC: Look at the condition after COVID. See mop up round was also conducted. Such a big number of seats are going vacant. You may have some difficulty and you are right that if few seats were there we would not have bothered, but 1400 seats at stake here

Justice Bose ? How many seats ?

Adv Petitioners: There are 20,000 seats on the NEET quota.

SC: Try to find out a solution. Govt will not be happy to get more than 1400 PG doctors ?

Adv: This is happening every year because no one takes up a non clinical seats as no one wants to teach. Here more than 1000 seats are the non clinical ones

A doctor appears in person: Such vacancy was last year also and it was 600. We had reduced percentile too and absorbed 25,000 more students. Still no one opted for these seats

Adv: These seats are perishable and cannot be carried forward. The software is also outdated. If there were takers for states then this exercise would have been helpful. But not now anymore.

ASG: classes have already started in February and now classes for another 6 to 8 months is not feasible. NEET 2022 teaching will also be compromised. Security and invitations of these seats have to be brought in fresh and it will seriously compromise 2022 process

ASG: If something more has to be done we are open to it

Justice Shah: We are only in NEET 2021. 1,000 are non clinical seats which no one took and 300 are only with Govt colleges

ASG: Total seats vacant in 1456. From this.. 1100 seats with private institutions and 399 with Govt colleges. Most seats are in pre paramedic course (non clinical ones) where you cannot be a doc but become educationist etc.

ASG: private colleges are far expensive and thus few takers. 1117 seats are with private colleges.

Adv Gaurav Sharma for National Medical Commission: with regard to cut off date, because of CoVID and OBC reservation, these are the dates which were fixed. This cut off was laid down in Ashish Ranjan's case. After counselling these dates were closed.

Justice MR Shah: There has to be a limit to the entire exercise. It is a 3 year course and more than half term has gone

Adv: The course has not started and the counselling started on January. Last extended was on May

Justice Shah: so what? These are all non clinical seats

Adv: My clients are ready to go for these seats Milord. The counselling will take only one day only. Special stray round has not been conducted

Justice Shah: special..special round etc... This has to stop. For many years such seats have remained vacant

Adv: Milord the lives of doctors were lost and COVID created changes..

Justice Shah: COVID is all over. There cannot be any compromise on education.

A lawyer mentions plea seeking to revert vacant seats to the states:

Adv Kunal Cheema: earlier they used to go back to the states. Here merit will be a casualty and they without a seat will get a seat and I wont be eligible for an upgrade.

Justice Shah: we were not aware that 8 rounds of counselling had happened before the seats remained vacant. These students may be willing to join in third year also. There needs to be a stop. Anyways will pass a detailed order

Order reserved

SC: ASG Balbir Singh appeared for Centre, Adv Gaurav Sharma appeared for NMC and NBE. Order reserved. To be pronounced tomorrow. #NEET2021