The Medical Education Department, Rajasthan, reduced the number of resident positions at the SMS Medical College, Jaipur, to 139 positions. This decision has been taken by the department despite the college having 318 approved positions for senior residents.

The reduction, which comes as a shocking blow to Rajasthan’s healthcare system, came to light last Thursday, March 20, when the department released details for the senior resident counselling in the state. The department disclosed 1,737 open positions for senior residents across the state’s medical colleges, Medical Dialogues reports.

Other colleges allocated seats are Sardar Patel Medica College in Bikaner with 129 seats, SN Medical College in Jodhpur with 151, JLN Medical College in Ajmer with 125 seats, Government Medical College in Kota with 116 seats, and RNT Medical College in Udaipur with 122 seats.

Protests have erupted in response to a major drop in seats at SMS Medical College, Times of India reports, with resident doctors calling the reduction of senior resident positions from 318 to 139 unlawful and unjust.

Recently, the association of Jaipur resident doctors also met with department authorities to raise their concerns over the reduced senior resident positions, seeking their increase.

The online application procedure and choice filling for senior resident counselling were to begin from March 20 to March 25, with seats being finally assigned on March 31.

Senior Residency is a necessary step to complete for assistant professor positions.