Madras HC directs Ministry of Women and Child Development to recommend eligible candidates for MBBS, BDS admission under Central Pool

Madurai: Pronouncing its order in the favour of merit, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has recently directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development for recommending eligible candidates for MBBS/BDS admission under the Central Pool quota seats from the next academic year onwards.

Such an order has been passed by the HC bench as it was considering a plea filed by a medical aspirant, who wished to secure medical admission under the Central Pool on the ground that he had won the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement) back in 2016.

Taking note of the fact that the recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar have stopped receiving its benefits, the bench ordered the MWCD to sponsor eligible candidates under the Central Pool from the next academic year.

The bench comprising of Justice G.R. Swaminathan was quoted observing, "The yardstick is clear. If the candidate has won Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, he or she is obviously eligible. The petitioner had won the award in the year 2016. When a long-standing policy is not followed, there must be compelling reasons. In the present case, no such reasons are evident."

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Sa Sivasoorya, the concerned medical aspirant hailing from a rural background filed the plea before the HC bench after the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development did not allot him a medical seat under the Central Pool.

As per the latest media report by the New Indian Express, while considering the plea, the judge took note of the fact that the petitioner had significant academic and technical achievements. Although he had cleared NEET last year and became eligible for MBBS/ BDS admission, he was not selected under the Central Pool. The court also noted that the Ministries of Human Resource Development ad Women and Child Development can nominate and recommend eligible candidates for two seats under the Central Pool.

Referring to the office memoranda and inter-departmental correspondence submitted by the authorities that list of nominated candidates also includes the recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar.

The Hindu adds that even though the Union Health Ministry had insisted the MWCD for selecting the beneficiaries, ultimately it accepted the surrender of seats and allocated the seats properly. 

The bench also clarified its inability for granting any relief to the petitioner student as far as the current academic year was concerned.

At this outset, the bench noted, "These are all policy matters. But the surrender of the seats reserved for children who had shown exceptional achievement appears to be without any rationale. I am unable to accept the stand of the MWCD that it did not have the expertise to identify the beneficiaries."

"The yardstick is clear. If the candidate has won Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, he or she is obviously eligible. The petitioner had won the award in the year 2016. When a long-standing policy is not followed, there must be compelling reasons. In the present case, no such reasons are evident," further noted the court.

With these observations, the bench directed the MWCD for sponsoring the eligible candidates under the Central Pool for MBBS/BDS admission from the next academic year.

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