NEET PG Counselling: Doctors call for nationwide strike from Nov 27 over repeated delays

NEW DELHI: The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) announced to call for nationwide withdrawal of Out Patient Department (OPD) services from Saturday, November 27, onwards due to repeated delays and postponement of National Eligibility Entrance Test postgraduate (NEET PG) counselling 2021. The next Supreme Court hearing is scheduled for January 6, 2022.

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"The already overburdened and exhausted Resident Doctors of the nation fighting at the frontline since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, have been waiting patiently till date for some positive outcome of Supreme Court proceedings in the matter of already delayed NEET-PG 2021 counselling. However, there seems to be no respite to their physical and mental distress, with the next court hearing scheduled on 6th January 2022," the official notice said.

Following discussion with Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) representatives, FORDA has called for nationwide withdrawal of OPD services from Saturday to mark protest against the delays and postponement of NEET PG Counselling.

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The official statement further read, “We hereby urge upon the union government and the Supreme Court of India to take note of the grievance of resident doctors and take necessary measures for expediting the NEET-PG 2021 Counselling as well as admission process and to fast-track the court proceedings on an urgent basis.”

#PressRelease : Following today’s virtual meeting, #FORDA calls upon #ResidentDoctors across the nation to withdraw from #OPD Services, Saturday (27/11/2021) onwards #NEETPG2021Counselling @MoHFW_INDIA @ANI @ndtv @aajtak @ZeeNews @PTI_News @republic @IndianExpress @timesofindia pic.twitter.com/oOu0gTt6QY

— FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) November 25, 2021

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In case of no positive response from both the Centre or the apex court, the doctors’ association also said that they “will be forced to escalate protest”. “The onus of any such unfortunate situation affecting healthcare services will be on the concerned authorities,” it added.

The Central Government has told the top court on Thursday that it has decided to review Rs 8 lakh criteria for determining Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category in NEET All India Quota (AIQ) and will come up with a fresh decision within four weeks, as per reports.