Spell out stand on quota for in-government-service candidates in super speciality medical courses this year, High Court directs Director General of Health Services

T.N. government informs the court of having sent a letter to the Director General of Health Services on Thursday to ensure that 50% of the seats get allocated to government doctors in the academic year 2022-23

The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to clarify by Friday as to whether it is agreeable to permit the State government to fill up 50% of medical seats in super speciality courses with government in-service candidates for the academic year 2022-23.

Justice R. Suresh Kumar directed central government standing counsel D. Simon to get instructions from the DGHS by Friday itself since the latter had decided to conducted counselling for 100% of the super speciality seats from November 22 to 30 and there was no mention about permitting the State government to fill up 50% with in-service candidates.

Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram told the court that the State government was entitled to conduct a separate counselling and fill up 50% of the seats through in-service candidates and was obligated to handover only the rest of the 50% seats to the DGHS for common counselling as per orders passed by the Supreme Court in March this year.

Pursuant to the court orders, the DGHS had in April this year permitted the State government to conduct counselling with 50% in-service quota for the academic year 2021-22 but without compromising merit and the rules and regulations laid down by the National Medical Commission (NMC) from time to time.

However, in the recent counselling schedule released by DGHS for the academic year 2022-23, there was no mention about the counselling to be conducted by the State government for 50% of seats earmarked to in-service candidates. The schedule simply gives dates for the first and second round of counselling to be conducted by the DGHS.

Therefore, Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar had shot an urgent letter to the DGHS on Thursday requesting the latter to either permit the State government to conduct the counselling for 50% of in-service candidates or alternatively allot 50% of quota for those candidates in the counselling to be conducted by the DGHS itself, the A-G said.

The submissions were made during the hearing of a writ petition filed by two government doctors who feared that they might not get the 50% quota in super speciality admissions this year. Representing them, Senior Counsel P. Wilson, argued that the DGHS could not deny the right of the in-service candidates by creating a confusion during the eleventh hour.