GMC Srinagar students protest over reduced open merit seats in NEET PG admissions

Srinagar, Dec 09: Medical students from Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar today raised serious concerns over the drastic reduction in Open Merit (OM) seats in postgraduate admissions under the NEET PG framework.The students claim that recent policy changes, including the implementation of SO 176 (March 15, 2024) and SO 305 (May 21, 2024), have severely impacted merit-based admissions, leading to widespread discontent among aspiring doctors.According to the students, the open merit quota, which previously accounted for 75% of PG seats under SRO 49 of 2018, has been reduced to approximately 27% after the application of new reservation rules and Rule 17 of the J&K Reservation Rules (2004-2005). Out of 293 total PG seats available in government medical colleges, only 78 seats were effectively available for pure Open Merit candidates this year.“This has sent waves of despair among deserving students who worked hard to secure high ranks. How can a student with a rank of 90,000 get MD Radiology, while someone with rank 739 is denied a seat in the same branch?” questioned a student representative, as per news agency KNS.The students also criticized Rule 17, describing it as “draconian and unique to J&K.” Under this rule, reserved category candidates securing a seat in OM can upgrade to higher specialties, but the vacated OM seat is reallocated to the reserved category instead of being returned to the OM pool. “This leads to a double advantage for reserved category candidates and further reduces the number of seats for OM candidates. No other state in India has such a policy,” another protesting student told KNS.The students emphasized the importance of merit in specialty courses like MD/MS, arguing that these fields require high levels of competence to ensure quality healthcare. They highlighted that all MBBS students study under similar conditions, access the same resources, and are assessed equally, making merit-based selection a fair criterion.Additionally, the students called for the implementation of a bond system for PG and DM courses in J&K, as practiced in other states. They believe this would encourage doctors to serve in underserved areas and address healthcare disparities in the region.The protesting students have appealed to the J&K administration to restore the OM quota to a fair percentage, abolish Rule 17 to prevent double allocation of seats to reserved categories and implement a mandatory bond system for PG and DM graduates.These steps, the students argue, will uphold meritocracy and ensure equitable access to medical education, ultimately benefiting the healthcare system.