The NEET PG 2021 counselling schedule will begin on January 12, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on January 9.  The move certainly comes as a relief to the medical fraternity in view of an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases as this would add more resident doctors to hospitals across the country.

“NEET PG counselling is being started by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) from January 12, 2022, following the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, as assured by the Ministry of Health to the resident doctors,” Mandaviya tweeted.

The tweet added, “This will give more strength to the country in the fight against Corona. My best wishes to all the candidates.” The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) had declared the NEET PG 2021 result on September 28, 2021. The counselling process was supposed to begin in October 2021 but was delayed due to the stay imposed by the Supreme Court owing to a clutch of cases dealing with EWS reservations before it. 

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As the delay went on for months, the resident doctors took to the streets to protest against it and demanded the expedition of the NEET PG 2021 counselling. The protest was at its peak in December when the resident doctors had boycotted all routine and emergency medical services in Delhi. Many had even faced adverse action from the Delhi police while agitating on the streets. It all came to halt by the end of the month.

Soon after that, on January 7, the Supreme Court pronounced its final verdict on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate and Postgraduate (NEET UG and PG) admissions 2021. The Apex court upheld the 27 per cent quota for OBCs, and 10 per cent for the economically weaker sections (EWS) for this admission cycle. The court said that it would hear arguments on the validity of EWS in March and gave a go-ahead to the Centre to conduct counselling.