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Extension of deadline for PG medical seats: SC asks Centre to make its stand clear- 18-Jun-2019
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre to make its stand clear on whether it can extend the date for counselling for admissions in post- graduate medical courses for 400-500 seats in deemed universities and private colleges.
The Centre informed the top court that it could not find any amicable solution to the problem as directed by it.
A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant asked Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of the Centre, to make its stand clear by way of affidavit.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Education Promotion Society of India, a registered group of over 1,300 educational institutions of the country which sought extending of counselling to facilitate admission to over 500 seats.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the petitioner society, said that medical seats in deemed universities and colleges were remaining vacant due to certain technical and other issues and they incur loss to the education institutional, which has to make huge investments to create quality infrastructure.
He said a wasted seat affected both the students as well as the educational institutions.
The top court had on June 12 asked the Centre to try to find out an amicable solution to the problem and said, "If need be counselling may have to be extended by a short period of a week or so."
The plea filed by the society said, "The medical colleges/deemed universities are neither praying for enhancement or increase in number of seats nor for lowering of any parameters in order to accommodate additional students".
"The only prayer is for extension of time for stray vacancy round so that the meritorious students who are already NEET qualified and are already available in the waitlist provided by the DGHS, are given another opportunity to join a PG course," it said.
The petitioner society said that the situation can be rectified, if one last chance for counselling for stray vacancy round was granted as was done in the case of Maharashtra after the top court scrapped the ten percent economically weaker sections quota.
The petition further said there will be benefits of extension of stray vacancy round to medical colleges in order to fill vacant seats for the current academic year.
"This would be beneficial to the concerned colleges but also to the students who are looking to join a medical institute to pursue PG courses," it said.
The last date of counselling for PG medical courses was on May 31.
The society said that they were given five days, May 27 to 31, to complete the PG admissions in stray vacancy round, which was actually insufficient.
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