The Union Health Ministry has debarred 47 doctors, including two who had applied for counselling from Tamil Nadu, from participating in the National Eligibility Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET PG) medical counselling as they had failed to join courses after blocking PG seats last year, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
This is probably the first time that the ministry has debarred students from participating in counselling for not joining courses they had agreed to join, sources said. The rule was introduced to discourage students from ‘wasting’ medical seats.
The state selection committee, last week, received a communication from the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) that two students who took seats in All-India Quota (AIQ) last year have again applied for counselling in the state this year and they are ineligible to participate in the counselling.
Strengthening the rules
The MCC has strengthened the rules this year to prevent medical seats from going to waste as several students fail to join courses after accepting the seats. As per new MCC rules, candidates who fail to join courses after participating in a special stray vacancy round of counselling cannot write NEET PG. Such candidates will be debarred from participating in the NEET PG exam and counselling and must forfeit Rs 50,000 if they fail to report to the allotted college.
An undertaking is also taken from candidates who wish to take part in the special stray vacancy round with the above-mentioned conditions.
Even after participating in the special stray round of counselling in 2022, a total of 127 candidates failed to report at the allotted colleges, the notification from the MCC said. So, the MCC has sought details of these 127 candidates from the National Board of Examination (NBE) which conducts the NEET exam to see if any of them participated in NEET PG 2023-2024.
It was found that 47 such candidates wrote PG NEET. Hence, the 47 candidates were termed ineligible to participate in NEET PG counselling for 2023-2024, according to the notification.
Every year, Tamil Nadu surrenders 50% of PG seats from state-run medical colleges to the Union Health Ministry to be filled under All India Quota (AIQ). The MCC under the Union Health Ministry conducts counselling for these seats.
Selection committee officials last year said the state surrendered around 1,100 PG medical seats to the Centre. The state may release the NEET PG rank list this week and counselling may start before July 31.
