Resident doctors across Rajasthan are pushing back against a recent government decision that changes the basis for Senior Resident (SR) counselling — from NEET PG scores to MD/MS exam marks. The change, announced on March 23, has sparked concerns over fairness and consistency, with associations demanding an immediate rollback.
As reported by Medical Dialogues, the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) and United Doctors Front (UDF Rajasthan) met with Shri Ambrish Kumar, Secretary of the Medical Education Department, and submitted a memorandum detailing their objections.
They stressed that NEET PG — a centralised, computer-evaluated exam — ensures an unbiased and standardised assessment across the country, unlike university-level MD/MS exams that are susceptible to subjectivity and variations in examiner leniency.
“Every year the Senior Resident Counselling happens based on NEET scores. However, this year, all of a sudden, the government issued an order... stating that the counselling would be based on University passing marks,” said Dr Bharat Pareek, President of UDF Rajasthan and a JARD member. He warned that using MD/MS marks could result in high NEET PG scorers losing out, creating grounds for legal complications and delays.
The associations have also flagged concerns about discrepancies in seat allocations. As noted by Medical Dialogues, while the counselling was reportedly planned for 318 SRs across 812 sanctioned posts at SMS Medical College, only 139 posts were listed in the final matrix. They have demanded that college principals submit updated vacancy lists and called for a proportional increase in SR seats, especially at SMS, where OPD footfall exceeds 10,000 patients daily.
Dr Pareek confirmed that the Secretary was receptive to their demands and has agreed to revoke the counselling change, while also taking action on the remaining concerns raised during the meeting.
