Admissions for post graduate medical courses that had been delayed by a month due to a stay by the Bombay high court over in-service quota issue got underway on Friday only to find itself back in the courtrooms albeit on the issue of seat matrix. The petitioner doctors moved the HC as despite a 25 per cent increase in the overall seats for the year 2020-21, the seats in the open category had shrunk from 330 in 2019-2020 to 327. While the HC directed the state and the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) to explain the rationale and justification behind the decrease in seats in the open category, it did not stay the process but said that the selection process would be subject to orders which may be passed in the petition.
A single bench of justice N J Jamadar while hearing a petition filed by Dr Pushkar Dongare and others through video conferencing was informed by advocates Rajiv Pandya and Vivek Singh that the petition challenged the allocation of seat matrix for admission to post-graduate medical courses for the year 2020-21.
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The petitioners submitted that for the year 2019, there were 972 post-graduate seats in the state out of which 330 seats were open seats. With the introduction of 10% reservation for EWS category, the state had got an increase of 25% seats as a result, the total seats for the year 2020-2021 was 1168. However, the seats in the open category were shown at 327.
When state lawyer Jyoti Chavan sought time to respond to the rejoinder filed by the petitioners the bench directed the state and DMER to file an affidavit making its position clear and address the issues raised in the rejoinder. The issues are why seats in open category decreased though there was a 25 percent increase in seats, what was the rationale and impact behind not considering additional seats in individual subjects and individual government medical colleges and why is there a decrease of 16 seats in open category and 17 seats in clinical branch.
The court directed the affidavit to be filed by May 18 and posted the matter for hearing on May 19 and said, “though selection process may proceed, it shall be subject to the outcome of the orders which may be passed in this petition.”
Courtesy: hindustan times
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