‘Why hold back med students when a new variant is hovering,’ asks IMA Maharashtra

Police detain doctors protesting over postponement of NEET PG counselling, in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Maharashtra has issued a statement supporting all medical students seeking admission to postgraduate courses, the admission process for which has been put on hold for the longest time ever. IMA asked, "When a new Covid variant is hovering over Maharashtra, why is the government keeping medical students at ransom for policy decisions?"

Referring to the ongoing protests by MBBS doctors over PG admissions in Delhi, Dr Mangesh Pate, secretary of IMA Maharashtra, said, "Whatever happened in Delhi is just an example of the distress of these students struggling for their right to education. They are all already qualified MBBS doctors but are sitting at home without any clarity on future course because government is in the process of making some policy decisions." He added that the way qualified doctors were treated in Delhi is the example of deterioration of a nation where educated professionals are not given the deserving respects.

The IMA has issued a statement condemning the actions taken against protesting resident doctors in Delhi. "Agitating students were apparently dragged, beaten by police and were detained in New Delhi. It is the worst treatment showered on the students fighting for their legitimate right and justice. This stands as a basic right of all students. Policy decisions cannot stand as a hurdle to the ongoing process of professional education," the statement read.

Qualified MBBS doctors across the country have been waiting for PG admission for almost a year now. While the exam was held in September this year, the counselling process has been deferred. While the delay was initially a result of the second wave of the pandemic, the government has not shown any readiness to complete the process since. This has led to no new batch of first-year PG students even as a second batch of MBBS doctors are ready to seek admissions.

This delay has also increased burden on existing residents as it has reduced the manpower by a third, which can be very dangerous especially in view of the rising Covid cases, said doctors. Dr Pate said, "Most of the resident doctors are associated with government, semi-government or trust-run hospitals which are likely to face a heavy load of patients with rising Covid cases. Maharashtra has one of the highest number of cases currently. Do we have enough manpower to deal with that? Policy decisions, which are essentially political in nature, should not stop these students from higher education."

Sept '21
Month when medical PG entrance exam was held