Guwahati: Counselling for medical admissions under the National Eligibility/Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) will start on January 12, 2022. This was informed in a tweet by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today.
“NEET-PG counselling is being started by MCC from January 12, 2022, following the order of the Supreme Court, as assured by the Ministry of Health to the resident doctors. This will give more strength to the country in the fight against Covid-19. My best wishes to all the candidates,” the minister tweeted in Hindi.
Minister Mandaviya also extended his best wishes to all the candidates.
The announcement comes after the Supreme Court cleared new quotas to end the stalemate over medical colleges admissions on January 7.
After being rescheduled twice in January and April, the NEET-PG exam was held on September 11, 2021, with its results being announced in the final week of the same month.
It may be mentioned that the counselling was supposed to start in October last year, but it was postponed after petitions were filed against a government notification announcing the reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes ( OBC) and Economically Weaker Students (EWS) candidates.
Due to this, nearly 45,000 junior doctors were not admitted last year, overburdening those who were already looking after patients amid the Covid pandemic.
‘Residents’ from several states, including Delhi, took to the streets to protest against the delay in the counselling process.
After a four-month delay, clearing the way for medical admissions the Supreme Court on January 7 allowed 27 percent reservation for OBC students and a 10% quota for students from low-income families on January 7 and stated that counselling must begin in the “national interest.”
Following the counselling, over 45,000 junior doctors can now join the workforce, as India fights an increase in Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant.
NEET-PG is a qualifying exam for medical students for admission to over 100 private and government colleges.
Those who clear it through ‘counselling’ are directed to universities and colleges based on marks and chosen specialisation where they work under senior colleagues’ supervision.
