Summary:
Accordingly, apart from earmarking hilly areas as remote/difficult, it classified a number of districts as backward with areas having low density of doctors, high vacancies and poor health indicators. By: Puspha Narayan CHENNAI: In a shocker for government doctors seeking postgraduate medical admission in Tamil Nadu , the Madras high court on Wednesday said 50% reservation cannot be accorded to in-service candidates in the all-India quota.A plain reading of regulations 9(4) and 9(8) of PG Medical Education Regulation, 2000 makes it clear that 50% of seats under the all-India quota cannot be reserved to in-service candidates, Justice S Vaidyanathan said. The judge also quashed government orders dated March 9 and 23 notifying remote/difficult areas for incentive marks for in-service candidates to PG medical admission “Under the guise of rectifying defects with regard to identification of remote/difficult, rural areas and primary health centres the government has not made the declaration on the basis of geographical parameters. One was moved by Dr P Pravin and others seeking to quash the GOs notifying remote/difficult and rural areas.The petitioners submitted that after several rounds of litigation on the issue last year, the government constituted a committee to identify remote and difficult areas for awarding incentive marks to in-service candidates for PG medical admission courses for 2018-19.On February 21, the committee submitted its report, considering the availability/ non-availability of doctors in certain districts, locations, institutions and functional domains. The present identification certainly reduces the chances of getting a seat for other candidates (general candidates) who may not be entitled to such weightage marks,” he said.Except urban areas, other areas have been classified as categories A, B and C for awarding additional incentive marks to in-service candidates working in such areas.The exercise made by the committee based on which the government orders in question are issued are liable to be interfered with and hence both the orders are declared illegal, the judge added.He passed the orders on two different pleas..