NEET PG counselling protest: Plea filed at Supreme Court seeking strict against Delhi Police, advance hearing of reservation case

New Delhi: A letter plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the directions to the Commissioner of Police Delhi to start an inquiry and take strict action against the personnel of Delhi Police who allegedly physically assaulted the doctors who were protesting against the delay in the counselling process of NEET-PG 2021.

The plea was addressed to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana. It was moved by the Delhi-based Advocate Vineet Jinda seeking direction from the government of India to create a committee to solve the issues connected with the doctors.

Also Read:NEET PG impasse continues, More doctors join strike

Over thousands of resident doctors associated with the medical college associated hospitals are currently protesting in Delhi demanding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test post graduate counseling to be conducted at the earliest.

The Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported about the protest held by resident doctors on December 29 over the delay in NEET PG counseling in the national capital that led to patient care being affected in several hospitals. The peaceful protest took brutal turn after the medics were lathi-charged and "brutally thrashed, dragged, and detained" by the Delhi Police.

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) is presently leading a protest demanding that the NEET PG Counseling should be conducted at the earliest so that those who qualified for their PG course exams could get admitted into the allotted colleges.

Resident doctors of several hospitals had protested near Delhi's Safdarjung hospital to protest against the delay in holding the NEET-PG counseling. The protesting doctors were taken into custody and brutally assaulted by the police officials.

As quoted by Livelaw, referring to the said incident, the letter states, "It is a sad state of affairs that the doctors once applauded and appreciated for their ceaseless efforts are now in a state of overburden and exhaustion and the appeal of these resident doctors seems to have fallen on deaf ears of the authorities who do not seem to be concerned about the shortage of healthcare workforce due to non-admission of fresh batch of resident doctors. Besides, these doctors are also deprived of their basic right of being professionally upgraded in every aspect. This would dampened the spirits of the doctors who have wholeheartedly devoted their lives in the nation's service and would prevent them from serving and performing their utmost even in case they are forcefully made to do so without keeping their genuine considerations in demand," 

The letter refers to doctors as nation warriors in this time of crisis, adding that they provided exemplary service in emergencies faced during Covid19 and were well applauded by the nation for their commendable efforts and devotion towards serving.

It states, "Already, Covid- 19 second wave has left an indelible impact on lives of people due to the massive death toll, and now we are again facing a crisis of third wave and are in extreme need of best health care services owing to the current situation of the outbreak of omicron virus... With doctors as our frontline warriors against this war with Covid, it is imperative to address the issues of resident doctors at the earliest to resolve their demands and to call off the strike as soon as possible" as quoted by Bar and Bench.

The delay is happening as the Union Government had assured the SC in October 2021 that the counseling process for NEET PG would not begin until a decision is taken by the court on the validity of the Centre's decision to introduce reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the Economically Weaker Sections(EWS)in the All India Quota.

This was stated in a hearing of a case in the court challenging 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) introduced by the Central government in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in State government medical institutions. That case would next be heard on January 6, 2022. 

Therefore the letter seeks direction to advance the hearing of the NEET-EWS reservation case and hold a day-to-day hearing in the matter. It said, "The present letter petition is regarding the recent protest of the resident doctors for the last several days, headed by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association of India (FORDA), and the threat of mass resignation. This mass protest has resulted because the Union health ministry has not taken any concrete steps to expedite NEET-PG counseling."

The counseling for NEET PG happens in the month of March but the pandemic delayed the process in 2021. Even though the exams happened in September, the counseling process hasn't begun yet so that admissions could start. 

The resident doctors are protesting against this delay while pointing out to the state the shortage of doctors considering that a third wave of the pandemic might approach soon.

Also Read:Doctors attacked by Delhi police call for complete shutdown of services