Explained: Why Are Doctors Protesting In Delhi As Omicron Threat Looms Large

Following the unprecedented events in the national capital that led to the Delhi Police allegedly manhandling protesting doctors and the subsequent call by FORDA to abstain from duty on Tuesday, Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya urged resident doctors to call off their strike in the larger interest of the public and said the Centre is engaged with the Supreme Court to quickly resolve the issue regarding the EWS quota.

NEET PG Counselling 2021

Resident Doctors have been protesting demanding to expedite the NEET-PG 2021 counselling as well as admission process.

BCCL

NEET-PG or National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) is a qualifying and ranking exam, upon clearing which students can get admission to several postgraduate MD, MS and diploma courses in Medical Colleges across India.

Admission to various courses in NEET PG 2021 has been delayed indefinitely following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The original NEET PG exam was scheduled in January 2021 but postponed in view of the first and second wave of COVID-19 and held on September 12, 2021.

However, due to the legal impediments of the Supreme Court now the Counselling is withheld resulting in a shortage of around 45000 doctors in the frontline.

According to FORDA, 45 thousand MBBS doctors are sitting at home after qualifying NEET PG, as the counselling is delayed.

What is NEET PG Counselling?

Students who make the cut-off in the NEET-PG exam can then apply for admissions under the all-India quota based on their preferences. The seats are then allotted, subject to availability.

BCCL

Reserved seats for SC, ST, non-creamy OBC, PwD, and EWS are part of the all-India quota.

How did the EWS quota become the sticking point?

The government had issued a notification in July, providing 10 percent quota for the EWS category in NEET admissions. According to the legislation ratified by Parliament in January 2019, a general category student or candidate whose family income is less than Rs 800,000 per year is eligible per the EWS reservation. This was however challenged in the Supreme Court.

The SC bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud had asked the Centre to explain what exercise it had undertaken to arrive at Rs 8 lakh as the limit to annual income to identify EWS eligible for reservation.

AFP

Following this, the Central government told Supreme Court that it has taken a considered decision to revisit the limit of Rs 8 lakh annual income fixed for determining the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category for reservation in NEET admissions for postgraduate medical courses.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Centre sought four weeks time from a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, saying a committee will be constituted to determine the criteria for EWS. He told the Bench that NEET PG counselling shall remain postponed until the determination.

Why are Resident doctors protesting?

When medical students join the PG course, they join as junior residents. Along with the course they will also be deployed in hospital wards and other patient care duties as part of their training. These nearly 50,000 MBBS doctors play a crucial role in the day-to-day functioning of many big hospitals.

Since a new batch of students would replace those graduating every year, the cycle continued till now.

BCCL

But this year since the admission process has not been completed, the ones who completed PG have left the hospitals and their replacement, ie new batch of students has not arrived yet.

This has left a shortage of nearly 50,000 doctors across hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Resident Doctors who themselves are overworked due to the pandemic are forced to fill in for the shortfall.

According to FORDA, Resident Doctors are forced to work overtime due to the staff shortage. They allege that they are forced to work over 80 hours a week during the pandemic.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.