In the ongoing health crisis where the country is facing a shortage of medical staff, the Supreme Court has now suggested a solution - deploy NEET PG aspirants for COVID duty. Giving a nod to this, the union government proposed allowing grace marks to them along with nursing students engaged in COVID duty.

Over 1.5 lakh doctors have registered for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG). However, the examination was postponed recently, owing to the scary second wave of the pandemic.

These observations were made when a bench consisting of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah was considering the Centre's SLP (Special Leave Petition) against the Delhi High Court's contempt notice to its officials for failing to secure a supply of 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi. "There are 1.5 lakh doctors waiting to appear in the NEET who have completed the medical course and their internship. There are some 2.5 lakh nurses who are now fully trained. They can be involved in the COVID workforce," Chandrachud said. The court also pondered on solutions to make services attractive.

Recently, the Prime Minister's Office had announced that that medical personnel completing 100 days of Covid duties will be given priority in the forthcoming regular govt recruitments.