Gujarat opens up State Quota for MBBS graduates from other states, upset PG Medical aspirants approach Court

Ahmedabad: Upset with the State Government's decision of opening up the State quota PG medical seats for MBBS graduates from other states, the NEET-PG aspirants in Gujarat have now approached the High Court seeking relief.

Addressing the matter, Gujarat Intern Doctors' Association and Gujarat MBBS Students' Association recently issued a joint statement in this regard and informed about their plans for representation before the Government.

Until now, only students who completed MBBS in Gujarat and were Domicile of Gujarat were eligible for State Quota PG Counselling. However, from this year, the State has opened the doors for the State quota PG medical seats (both Government and Private seats) to the MBBS graduates from outside States as well.

After the Registration for NEET PG 2022 counselling started on September 15, 2022, the Guidelines issued by the Admission Committee Website mentioned that, "Anyone who completed MBBS outside Gujarat (Either FMGs or Candidates completed MBBS outside Gujarat but in India) who completed 12th in Gujarat and have Domicile of Gujarat are now eligible for Government and Private PG Seats of Gujarat State."

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The State Health Department also issued a notification in this regard yesterday. Informing the changed rules for admission to State quota seats, the notification stated, "The candidate must have completed the recognized MBBS or BDS course from University established by an Act of the Parliament and situated in any State/Union Territory of India or have completed aforesaid courses from outside of India and fulfills the eligibility criteria of MCI, NMC or Government of India, as the case may be, and must have passed 12th qualifying examination with "B-group" or "AB-group" either from (a) Gujarat Board or (b) from Central Board of Secondary Education/The International School Board (International Baccalaureate and Cambridge)/ The National Institute of Open Schooling provided that school is located in the State of Gujarat and the candidate must have born in Gujarat State or be the Domicile of Gujarat State."

Therefore, the Admission Committee notified about the changed rule even before the Government issued the notice. Speaking about this, an MBBS graduate from BJMC Ahmedabad told Medical Dialogues, "When we sought legal opinion in this matter, we came to know that the directions had been issued without any Government Resolution, which finally got published on September 19. Challenging the order, we have now filed two petitions before the High Court on Monday."

Referring to the effect of this changed rule regarding admission in the State quota PG medical seats, GIDA and GMSA mentioned in their statement, "Students who took admission in MBBS in Gujarat (From Batch 2014 to Batch 2021), at time of admission rule for PG Eligibility Criteria is: "Person who completed MBBS in Gujarat only can participate in State PG Counselling." So, Students who have good ranks in AIPMT/NEET and getting good premier institutions outside Gujarat didn't take admission because of this rule."

Apart from this, the doctors also pointed out that students who did not get admission in Gujarat or failed in GUJCET took admission outside the State and Foreign Universities. On the other hand, many students opted for Private Medical Colleges/ Deemed Universities in Gujarat by paying higher fees of MBBS by thinking that they won't get eligible for State PG Counselling if they will go in other state of India or Foreign where cheaper fees options are available.

Mentioning this sudden change of rules as an "injustice", the MBBS graduate from BJMC Ahmedabad further told Medical Dialogues, "Only because of this, several students opted for NRI quota and management quota seats in Gujarat only to avail this benefit. They had options of studying outside the State. But they paid higher fees to study in Gujarat, so that they could be eligible for PG medical admission in the State. Because of this change, now the students who pursued MBBS in other States including Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, are eligible for PG medical admission in the State quota seats in Gujarat.

"Had we known this at the time of admission, we could have opted for admission elsewhere. This way we could have got the benefit of state quota counselling in both the states. The meritorious students are suffering the most because of this," the student added on the condition of anonymity.

The doctors are demanding that the new rules should be implemented for the new students who will get admitted to MBBS course this year. In this regard, the joint statement issued by the associations mentioned, "As this is very important guidelines to consider at time of admission in MBBS, we aren't notified at time of admission for this. Otherwise, people may choose different colleges. So, if Government want this rule to be implemented in Gujarat, then it should be implemented from MBBS Admission Batch 2022-23 (Who will take PG Admission in 2028-29)."

Apart from the change in the domicile requirement for PG medical admission in the State Quota seats, the students are also worried about other issues. Their objections include regarding the Government's decision of conducting NEET-PG Counselling and CPS Counselling together, change of category of seats, rules regarding offline counselling, the decision of allowing students to leave students without any penalty and filling up the vacant seats with any persons etc.

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