Expedite NEET SS 2021 Counselling: Doctors write to Mansukh Mandaviya; hint at agitation

NEW DELHI: Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has written to Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya requesting to expedite the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Super Specialty (NEET SS 2021) Counselling process. The doctors association also hinted at starting agitation if authorities do not address the concerns of the medical aspirants on an “urgent basis”.

The NEET SS 2021 exam was scheduled to be held in mid-November 2021. However, the exam took place on January 10, 2022, and the results were declared on January 31.

The NEET SS 2021 Counselling process has been suspended indefinitely due to another case pending against the NEET SS 2021 in the Supreme Court.

A Tamil Nadu government order dated November 7, 2020, which allocated 50% of seats of the Supre-Specialty courses for in-service doctors of Tamil Nadu, has been challenged by the petitioners. “They claim that they had appeared for the exam on the basis on the NEET SS information bulletin, which stated that there would be no reservation of seats for the Super Specialty courses,” the letter said.

On February 7, the Supreme Court issued a notice on the petition challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s order regarding reservation in NEET SS 2021.

“Consequently, the new batch of NEET SS 2021 is already six months late. Furthermore, the super specialization resident doctors who are working are overworked due to new residents joining for the last year. During this time of the pandemic, when more people are needed to facilitate the best possible treatment for more patients, delaying NEET SS 2021 Counselling will result in a further burnout of the already-stretched workforce and compromise patient care,” FAIMA wrote in the letter to Union health minister.

Coming out in support of the resident doctors, the FAIMA said, “Our concern is this sight of anguish and unrest among super specialists, and therefore we call upon the concerned authorities to expedite the NEET SS 2021 counselling process so that an adequate workforce is available to deal with any form of a health care crisis.”