PG Medical Admissions at GMCH Chandigarh: Health Ministry's Intervention Sought to stop seat reallocation to AIQ

Chandigarh: Students and their parents at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, urged the Union Health Ministry to intervene to halt the proposed reallocation of the State quota postgraduate (MD/MS) seats to the All-India Quota (AIQ) seats in the academic year 2024-2025.

Issuing a notification on June 3, GMCH announced that half of the State quota seats for postgraduate admissions would now be filled based on the All-India merit under the NEET-PG 2024.

There are altogether 148 postgraduate seats at GMCH. Previously, these seats were distributed between the State and all-India quotas.

In the notification, the institute further mentioned that the third counselling round for the remaining 32 State Quota seats would be filled equally based on Institutional Preference and AIQ rank obtained in NEET-PG.

Also Read: NEET PG Counselling delay at GMCH 32 leaves Medicos in limbo

Raising objections regarding the revised mechanism, students and parents have sought the Central Government's intervention. Commenting on the issue, Dr. Sanjeev Bhatia and Dr. A.K. Agarwal, who are representing the affected group, told The Hindu, "We are opposing this decision because following this notification, half of the State quota seats would be filled through the all-India quota, which would rise up to 75%, exceeding the set National Medical Commission (NMC) norms that limit AIQ to 50% across the country."

"This shifting of seats puts GMCH students at a significant disadvantage. The GMCH would effectively be the only college in India with 75% of its PG seats under AIQ, which is grossly unjust. If such an unwanted change — which is apparently against the spirit of existing five-judge Supreme Court judgment allowing 50% Institutional Preference quota seats — is enforced, then all medical colleges across India should follow the same 75% AIQ rule, giving GMCH students equal rights. There should be uniformity," said Dr. Bhatia.

"We request immediate intervention of the Union Health Ministry, Director General of Health Services and NMC to ensure this discrepancy is addressed and to protect the rightful interest of GMCH students. A uniform and fair national policy is essential. The GMCH students and their parents request for fair and equitable justice at par with all other students all over India," he added.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that challenging the move, some of the PG medical aspirants had filed a plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, arguing that the move violated the judgment of the Supreme Court. However, a Division bench of Justices Mahabir Singh Sindhu and H.S. Grewal dismissed the plea and upheld the decision of the Chandigarh administration to reallocate vacant Union Territory (UT) quota seats in postgraduate (PG) medical courses to the All India Quota (AIQ) seats.

The legal challenge stemmed from the Supreme Court's January 29 order holding domicile-based reservation for PG medical admissions as unconstitutional. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that earlier this year, the Supreme Court held that domicile-based reservations for postgraduate medical admission could not be allowed as it violated Article 14 of the Constitution.