NEET SS 2021 Eligibility criteria for OCI candidates: HC issues notice to Centre, NBE
New Delhi: Responding to a batch of petitions filed by Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder medical practitioners, who wished to pursue Super Specialty Courses in the Country, the Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response from the Central Government and the National Board of Examinations (NBE) regarding the matter.
These doctors moved the High Court as a consequence of the Government's decision which held that OCI cardholders are ineligible to appear in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Super Specialty (NEET-SS) 2021 examination.
Issuing notice in the matter, the High Court division bench led by Chief Justice D. N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh posted the matter to be next heard on October 11, 2021.
Earlier, while allowing the Centre to file its response, the High Court had also granted a petitioner doctor, who had pursued both MBBS and MS degrees in India, to apply for the NEET-SS 2021 examination. Medical Dialogues had recently reported that such a decision had come on the part of the Delhi High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh as it had opined that not granting the stay would cause an irreparable loss to the petitioner.
As per the latest media report by India Legal, aggrieved by such directions issued by both the Central Government and NBE, the petitioner doctors have approached the Delhi High Court and filed the pleas through Advocate Shivendra Singh. They have claimed in the petitions that they have been residing in India for a long and have also completed their MBBS and post-graduation studies in India.
Further claiming that they have been at the forefront in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the doctors have alleged that the notification dated March 4, 2021 is a total deprivation of eligibility of petitioners to appear in NEET SS 2021.
"The deep and pervasive link of the Petitioners with the medical profession in India cannot be abruptly snapped after they have been permitted to read for MBBS (course with duration of five and a half years) and post-graduation (course with duration of three years) under a system which was well aware of the fact that they were OCI cardholders," stated the petitions.
"Even though the Petitioners had an opportunity to pursue their post-graduation elsewhere, they chose to stay here as they have strong roots in India and intend to make a career in the healthcare sector," the petitions stated as per India Legal.
Praying that Clause (4) (ii) of the March 4 notification and Clause 3.6 of NEET-SS 2021 Notification get restrained, the petition further stated, "India is in dire need of healthcare professionals as evident during the COVID pandemic crisis and by the extremely poor Doctor-Patient ratio. The impugned notification would only demotivate healthcare professionals from staying back in India."
Also Read: NEET SS 2021 Eligibility Criteria for OCI: HC issues notice to Centre, NBE
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