Rajasthan Doctors demand SR Counselling on NEET PG scores

Jaipur: The resident doctors of Rajasthan are demanding counselling of senior resident seats on NEET PG score.

In this regard, the doctors recently met with the Secretary of the Medical Education Department regarding Senior Resident Counselling 2025 and proposed their demands, including the counselling of SRs on NEET PG marks.

After the government issued an order to use MS/MD score for SR counselling of 2021 batch who just completed their MBBS, the associations of resident doctors including Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) and United Doctors Front (UDF Rajasthan) demanded an immediate withdrawal of the new rule and urged the government to use NEET PG 2021 scores for SR counselling, citing that as it is the most fair and transparent method.

Talking to Medical Dialogues, Dr Bharat Pareek, President of UDF Rajasthan and member of JARD, stated, “Every year the Senior Resident Counseling happens based on NEET scores. However, this year, all of a sudden, the government issued an order on March 23 stating that the counselling would be based on University passing marks. MD/MS exams across Rajasthan colleges (SPMC, SMS, JLN, etc.) have different examiner leniency and marking standards. Comparing these scores is unfair, as they lack uniformity. MD/MS marks assess competence but are not designed for competitive ranking, making them unsuitable for SR counselling. Subjective scoring and inter-college variation make MD/MS marks unreliable for competitive counselling.”

The resident doctors also pointed out that NEET PG is a standardized exam conducted under the same conditions, ensuring a fair and objective measure of merit. It objectively reflects candidates’ knowledge and ranks them fairly. NEET PG uses MCQs with computerized evaluation, eliminating human bias, unlike MD/MS exams, which involve subjective assessment. Moreover, Rajasthan has used NEET PG scores for SR counselling since 2021, making it the accepted and fair norm.

“The sudden shift to MD/MS scores mid-counselling is arbitrary, unfair, and unethical. Candidates appeared for NEET PG 2021 expecting their scores to be used for SR counselling, as per the established practice. All issues were discussed in depth, and Shri Ambrish Kumar, Secretary, Medical Education, had a positive attitude on all points. With this collaborative approach, we are moving towards a new direction,” stated Dr. Pareek.

Talking about the outcome of such a decision, the associations also pointed out that high NEET PG scorers could lose seats due to inconsistent MD/MS marks. It undermines the significance of scoring well in a national-level objective exam. This change could lead to legal challenges, delaying the process and affecting hospital functioning, they said

In a letter to Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Cabinet Minister of the Medical & Health Department in the Government of Rajasthan, the association has also pointed out that it was decided to conduct counseling process for a total of 318 Senior Resident (812) posts in SMS Medical College, Jaipur, while only 139 posts have been mentioned in the final seat matrix. Hence, the associations have demanded that the vacant seats should be included in the seat matrix. Hence, the association demanded that all the principals of medical colleges should be directed to submit a proper list of vacancies.

“SMS Medical College, which is the largest and major medical institution of the state, where more than ten thousand patients come to OPD every day, there is a need to increase the posts of senior residents here, not to cut it, but here the senior resident posts should be in accordance with the PG seats, hence the number of 512 posts should be increased further in SMS so that the common people of the state can get better treatment,” the letter reads. The resident doctors also demanded that as before, the merit list of in-service and non-service residents should be released separately, and counselling should be done accordingly. According to Dr. Pareek, Shri Ambrish Kumar, Secretary, Medical Education, has agreed to withdraw the new order regarding SR Counselling rule while assuring them of immediate action on other demands also.