The examination was postponed several times. The counselling has not taken place till now. The resident doctors were out protesting for their rights in Delhi. And only the Centre and the Supreme Court are to blame for the misery of doctors. However, the doctors will finally heave a sigh of relief as the Supreme Court has now allowed NEET PG & UG counselling for this academic year with 27% OBC and 10% EWS reservation.
NEET Counselling 2021 to begin soon
The Supreme Court stepped in with a crucial decision on Friday for medical professionals. The Court, to show a green flag to NEET PG admissions for this academic year, sustained the reservation of 10 percent Economically Weak Section (EWS) and 27 percent Other Backward Classes (OBC).
It is pertinent to note that the counselling was on break for two months because of which the government had to face the wrath of the medical professionals. However, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET PG Counselling 2021 would begin soon now as the Supreme Court has now nodded yes for the same.
Read more: Some NRIs want SC, ST, OBC quota in NEET but the govt has said a clear No
A bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said, “The counselling for the NEET-PG for the academic year 2021-22 will proceed as per the criteria already notified.”
“However, there will be a detailed hearing on EWS reservation besides identifying criteria will be held in the third week of March,” the court said.
The Centre told the apex court that “The introduction of OBC and EWS reservations after the issuance of NEET-PG exam notification does not amount to changing the rules of the game midway.”
What actually happened?
The NEET (PG), a qualifying and ranking examination for medical students, was supposed to take place in January 2021, but was postponed several times and took place only in September last year.
But it did not end here. NEET PG 2021 counselling has not taken place till now. A batch of petitions had come in before the Supreme Court challenging a July 29 notification providing NEET PG medical seat reservation — 27% for OBC and 10% for EWS students.
Read more: Why both the Centre and Supreme Court are to blame for the doctors’ protests
The NEET PG 2021 counselling was supposed to have taken place on October 25 but was postponed due to the pleas made before the Supreme Court, and the Centre assured that the counselling won’t go ahead until the issue was resolved.
The inordinate delay was troubling NEET PG candidates. Even if the issue has been resolved on January 6, all India quota (AIQ) counselling will still take around a month and a half to conclude and then the states will start their procedures. Meanwhile, NEET PG 2022 is scheduled to be conducted on March 12. And if things go as planned, then we could end up in a situation where the NEET PG 2021 counselling and NEET PG 2022 counselling run parallel to each other.
However, the Supreme Court has now finally appeared with an applaudable decision to allow the counselling. Thus, medical professionals will not have to face any hurdle to pursue their careers.