Extension of deadline for PG medical seats |SC asks Centre to make its stand clear

The Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre to make its stand clear on whether it can extend the date for counselling for admissions in post- graduate medical courses for 400-500 seats in deemed universities and private colleges.

The Centre informed the top court that it could not find anyamicable solution to the problem as directed by it.

   

A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant askedAdditional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for DirectorateGeneral of Health Services (DGHS) of the Centre, to make its stand clear by wayof affidavit.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the EducationPromotion Society of India, a registered group of over 1,300 educationalinstitutions of the country which sought extending of counselling to facilitateadmission to over 500 seats.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the petitionersociety, said that medical seats in deemed universities and colleges wereremaining vacant due to certain technical and other issues and they incur lossto the education institutional, which has to make huge investments to createquality infrastructure.

He said a wasted seat affected both the students as well asthe educational institutions.

The top court had on June 12 asked the Centre to try to findout an amicable solution to the problem and said, “If need be counsellingmay have to be extended by a short period of a week or so.”

The plea filed by the society said, “The medicalcolleges/deemed universities are neither praying for enhancement or increase innumber of seats nor for lowering of any parameters in order to accommodateadditional students”.

“The only prayer is for extension of time for strayvacancy round so that the meritorious students who are already NEET qualifiedand are already available in the waitlist provided by the DGHS, are givenanother opportunity to join a PG course,” it said.

The petitioner society said that the situation can berectified, if one last chance for counselling for stray vacancy round wasgranted as was done in the case of Maharashtra after the top court scrapped theten percent economically weaker sections quota. The last date of counselling for PG medicalcourses was on May 31.

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