NEET PG Counselling 2021 protest intensifies; Doctors march to Supreme Court

After one month of starting the protest against the delay in NEET PG Counselling 2021, the resident doctors are today marching towards the Supreme Court of India to highlight their grievances.

Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) had started the protest against the repeated delay in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) Counselling 2021 on November 27, 2021. The protesting doctors had also put the strike on hold for one week and resumed it once again on December 17, 2021. Since then, today is day 11 of agitation, and the resident doctors are marching towards the Supreme Court of India to highlight the grievances.

As per FORDA's official release on December 26, 2021, "The overworked & exhausted Resident Doctors have protested in front of Nirman Bhawan, MoHFW, New Delhi for 5 consecutive days & yet the authorities have failed to take any concrete measure in the concerned matter. Henceforth, protesting Resident Doctors will be marching towards the Supreme Court of India tomorrow, 27th December 2021 to highlight our grievance."

FORDA has called upon resident doctors from other states also to join the protest today in large numbers and has once again urged the Central government to fast-track court hearing and to expedite the NEET-PG Counselling 2021 and subsequent admission process.

FORDA INDIA latest tweet reads, Day 11 of Agitation: #ResidentDoctors march towards #SupremeCourt of India from #MAMC, Delhi for highlighting the grievance to #ExpediteNEETPGCounselling2021 @PMOIndia @mansukhmandviya @Drvirendrakum13 @MoHFW_INDIA @MSJEGOI @ANI @LiveLawIndia @MirrorNow @ndtv @aajtak @PTI_News"

The doctors are protesting as due to delay in the NEET PG Counselling 2021, they are facing a shortage of staff in hospitals. They want the first year PG medical students to join on an immediate basis to help them in providing health care facilities. The doctors also want this issue to be resolved before any possible third wave of the virus.

The admission process of postgraduate medical courses is getting delayed due to a pending case in Supreme Court where the Central government has taken time to revise the INR 8 lakh annual income criteria for determining the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). The Centre has assured the top court that they will not start the counselling process until any final decision is taken on this criterion. 

Read more:

• NEET PG 2021 Counselling Updates: IMA Writes to Health Ministry; Protest Continues
• NEET PG Counselling 2021: FORDA to resume strike from December 17