250+ seats not included in NEET SS Counselling seat matrix, MCC pauses choice filling as doctors flag issue

New Delhi: Taking note of the fact that more than 250 super specialty seats of medical colleges had not been included earlier to the seat matrix, the Medical Counselling Committee, operative under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has paused the choice filling for the NEET SS counselling for some time.

Issuing notice in this regard, the DGHS stated, "In reference to few super speciality seats of colleges/institution not being added earlier to the seat matrix by them, MCC of DGHS is in the process of adding these colleges/institutes to the seat matrix. Hence the choice filling for Super Specialty will be paused for sometime so that these colleges/institutes may add these seats to the seat matrix."

This comes after the issue was flagged by doctors under the umbrella of Federation of Resident Doctors' Association and Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA).

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Writing to the DGHS, FORDA mentioned yesterday, "Around 250+ seats in several prestigious healthcare institutions viz. SGPGI (Lucknow), Army Hospital R & R (New Delhi), Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (New Delhi), Jaslok Super-Speciality Hospital (Mumbai), etc. have not been included currently. Seats from these institutions are included in the Round 1 of Counselling process every year & are always opted by Top Rankers in various specialities. For the current year, addition of these seats in Round 2 will essentially turn the Round 1 into a "Mock Round" as the Top Rankers will apply for upgradation in Round 2. Other than affecting candidates in the entire Merit List, this will lead to further complications in the already delayed Counselling process."

"Relevant details viz. Fee Structure, Stipend, State Bond etc. of each healthcare institution offering DM/MCh/DrNB seats are yet to be published which again affects the choice filling by candidates in various specialities," the letter had mentioned.

Raising the similar issue, FAIMA had written to the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare. "A few of the most prestigious hospitals for Super Specialization courses in India did not display seats in Round 1 of the Counselling process. Due to this, the candidates with good ranks are unable to select such colleges during Round 1, and this will result in many Super Specialization seats remaining vacant during this round of counselling, thus creating a possible chaos during the Round 2 of counselling. Such inadvertent omission of the information may delay counselling process and will only exacerbate the problem. "

"We request the concerned authorities to make the counselling process as transparent as possible by providing all relevant information to the candidates including the list of colleges and and hospitals offering the Super Speciality seats during different rounds of the counselling process, along with details like the fee structure of the hospital/college and bond details (if applicable) to be displayed together with the rest of the information of the seat matrix," FAIMA had added in the letter.

Soon afterward the doctors flagged the issue, the DGHS issued a public notice in this regard and accepted the fact that few Super Speciality seats had not been added in the seat matrix.

Pausing the Choice Filling for some time and giving the institutes an opportunity to include these seats, DGHS further mentioned in the notice, "As soon the addition of the fresh seats by the colleges/institutes is complete the choice filling shall be resumed and will be notified by way of notice."

"This issues with approval from competent authority," the notice added.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, Dr. Rohan Krishnan, the president of FAIMA said, "We really appreciate the prompt action taken by the Health Ministry regarding the issue of NEET Super Speciality. The problem in the counselling was that many of the colleges and many of the subjects were not being shown while filling the choices in the counselling and because of this, many of the aspirants of Super Speciality courses from various parts of India were approaching us. They pointed out that few very prestigious hospitals like Ganga Ram Hospital, some top colleges of Lucknow were not being shown in the choice list. Today was also the last day of the counselling and something needed to be done immediately. So, we also wrote to the Ministry and finally they have taken a prompt action to solve the issue."

"It is only yesterday that we wrote to DGHS and we are really thankful for the prompt action. Several students had approached us seeking help and we are glad that their problems have been solved and the counselling process has been put on hold," said Dr. Manish, President of FORDA.

To view the notice, click on the link below.

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/dghs-173514.pdf

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