Get on with NEET PG counselling: How medicos are reacting to Centre's decision to retain Rs 8 lakh income criteria for EWS

While the protesting doctors are welcoming the move and hope that it'll soon lead to NEET PG counselling, other public health experts are calling for a larger political eye in the medical fraternity
Image for representational purpose only | Pic: Express
Image for representational purpose only | Pic: Express

After an intense protest demanding expedited NEET PG counselling, agitated resident doctors across the country are now optimistic about the government's affidavit in the Supreme Court where an expert panel has recommended that they retain the Rs 8 lakh annual income criteria for admission under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota. The medicos are distancing themselves from the question of whether or not EWS should exist but believe that NEET PG counselling needs to be done on a priority basis.

The Tamil Nadu Chairman of the Junior Doctors Network of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Abul Hasan, said, "We don't want to comment on the reservation criteria because it has to be studied by experts. We want the counselling to be expedited at the earliest so that we can get a force of doctors to tackle the impending Coronavirus wave. The Supreme Court will take a call now but we want the counselling to happen at the earliest."

Meanwhile, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) was at the forefront of the month-long strike on medical services in Delhi, which was only called off a few days ago. FORDA President Dr Manish Kumar said that the recent affidavit is a welcome move. "We are thankful that at least they have started with the process. Our demand was just to expedite the NEET PG counselling, whether it is with old reservation policy or new policy is not our concern. We are willing to protest again if needed," he said. 

It is important to note that not everyone in the medical fraternity shares the same apolitical view in terms of the EWS quota. For instance, Dr Sylvia Karpagam, a public health expert and a Karnataka-based researcher, said, "Patients shouldn't suffer and the NEET counselling issue should be quickly solved but doctors need to start looking at it from a political perspective."

Questioning the constitutional validity of the EWS quota in the first place, Karpagam said, "The very premise of why affirmative action has come in is being broken by the government. Reservation is about representation and not only about economic issues."  She added that it does not matter if the limit is Rs 8 lakh because "dominant caste groups have social capital". 

A Chennai-based general practitioner and the State Deputy Secretary of DMK's NRI wing Dr Yazhini PM further drives home Karpagam's point. Speaking to Edexlive, she said that the delay in counselling is already affecting the medical colleges that are facing a lack of doctors during the pandemic. However, she added, "The understanding of caste-based reservation as an affirmative action amongst doctors is invariably poor except for certain pockets. One can see the effect of this poor understanding of reservation in how reserved candidates are subjected to discrimination (in medical colleges)."

Dr Yazhini believes that due to the Union government's delay in the NEET PG 2021 admissions, coupled with exams scheduled in March, the residents of two batches will now have to handle the same set of patients; decreasing their hands-on experience. She said that many residents have been complaining about the lack of training in their own specialities as they were redirected to COVID wards. 

The matter is listed before the top court for hearing on January 6. However, the Centre requested the court, on January 3, to schedule a hearing in the matter for January 4 citing "some urgency". 

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