New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over a large number of seats in the post-graduate medical courses lying vacant and sought from the Centre details of such seats in the government and private colleges and the deemed universities.
The vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi sought a solution to so many seats going waste from the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), directing him to explore some amicable solution.
It, however, refused to interfere with the counselling for filling the general category seats in the post-graduate medical courses in Maharashtra. The counselling for seats in the open category is slated on June 14. Two candidates, who have already taken admission under the all India quota, wanted relaxation of June 4 order to allow them to participate in the counselling.
Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the two candidates, said they belonged to the economically weaker sections (EWS) and would have secured admissions but for the court quashing the EWS quota.
She pointed out that that they were better placed in the merit list and yet they were being forced to pay something like Rs one crore a year in the private college which would substantially come down if they get admission in the government colleges on the strength of their merit.
Maharashtra government counsel Nishant Kanteshwarkar, however, opposed the plea pointing out that the scheduled counselling was only for the candidates for the state quota and those who have already opted for the all India quotas seats can’t now migrate to the State quota.
On Meenakshi Arora’s plea to allow the two candidates to participate in the counselling subject to the outcome of the hearing, Kanteshwarkar said today they are two, tomorrow there would be many more and would be like opening a Pandora box.
Fixing further hearing next Monday, the Bench sought details of the vacant PG seats anywhere in the country on the petition by the deemed universities that nearly 350 medical seats were lying vacant with them that they cannot fill since the last date for admissions was May 31.
Appearing for the deemed universities, senior advocate Maninder Singh produced the top court’s orders since 2016 when it had relaxed the May 31 deadline so that available seats in PG courses do not go waste.
He said the deemed universities wants to fill up the stray seats without displacing those who have already taken admission.
Singh later said that in his estimation about 1000 seats in medical and Para-medical PG courses are vacant and one can ill-afford losing them.
