SC to hear OBC, EWS reservation case on Jan 6; NEET PG 2021 Counselling likely start soon

After much delay and nationwide protest to expedite the NEET PG 2021 Counselling, it is expected to start from next week.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET PG 2021) Counselling was on hold due to the pending case in Supreme Court challenging the new OBC and EWS reservation scheme announced by the Central government this year. The next hearing on this matter is scheduled for January 6. The latest is, the registration process for NEET PG 2021 Counselling is likely to start from next week.

The resident doctors all across the country were overburdened due to the absence of the first-year PG medical students to support them, this had resulted in a nationwide strike of resident doctors demanding to expedite the counselling process. On December 31, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) had announced to call off the strike after meetings with Delhi Police and MoHFW officials. 

As per FORDA's official release, "Union Health Minister has agreed upon the following points:

• The MoHFW will submit the Committee Report to the Supreme Court before January 6 and will publish the NEET PG 2021 Counselling schedule following the Court hearing on January 6.
• MoHFW regrets the brutal incident of violence by Delhi Police against Resident Doctors who were protesting peacefully on December 27.
• No punitive or disciplinary action will be taken by the authorities against the doctors who took part in the agitation."

The Centre had also taken time to revisit the INR 8 lakh annual income criteria to determine the EWS category. Now, the Centre has accepted the recommendation of the expert committee to retain the existing criteria for EWS for the ongoing admissions.

Though the Centre had assured the top court that it will not begin NEET PG 2021 Counselling before the reservation issue gets resolved, now Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that the counselling will begin before January 6. The Minister has assured the delegation of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) that the counselling process will start before January 6.

Moreover, in a major development, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has decided to conduct NEET-UG and NEET PG counselling in four rounds from this year. Candidates are advised to keep visiting the official website mcc.nic.in for getting the latest information on NEET UG and PG 2021 Counselling.

Read more:

• Doctors call off strike demanding NEET PG 2021 Counseling dates; Delhi Police withdraws FIR
• IMA appeals to Health Minister to resolve NEET PG Counseling delay