Prefer in-service government doctors in rural hospitals for super specialty seats: Supreme Court

THe sublime margaret court on midweek said that for serving the make of public wellness, in-service doctors serving in remote government hospitals should be favourably considered for admission into super specialty medical courses.Issuing notice on a petition filed by Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association demanding for a restraint on the Tamil Nadu government from transferring the 151 super speciality seats in the state to the all-India quota (AIQ), the court said that government doctors serve the cause of public health better than private hospital doctors and it becomes important to equip them with super speciality skills to ensure more benefits reach the general public.A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi said, “We are concerned with public health, whichever state it be,” as the petitioner association represented by senior advocate P Wilson pointed out that there are 151 vacant in-service Super Specialty medical seats in colleges within Tamil Nadu and the same should not be surrendered to AIQ.At the same time, advocate Mithu Jain appearing for NMC stated that the second round of AIQ counseling process for NEET-SS 2025 conducted by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Union government has been held up due to TN’s reluctance to surrender the vacant seats to AIQ.Jain stated that on May 29, another bench of the top court in a separate proceedings had directed TN to inform the DGHS of the vacant in-service Super Speciality seats after the completion of the second round of counseling conducted in April. She stated that the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has also filed an application to give effect to the May 29 order due to non-compliance by Tamil Nadu.The bench said, “A government doctor serves public health better than a private doctor. If a government doctor acquires speciality skills, he can serve the cause of public health better.”Wilson said that in 2020, Tamil Nadu pioneered in providing a 50% quota for in-service doctors in Super Specialty seats in government medical colleges. He stated that once these seats are surrendered, only the government doctors will suffer.Jain informed the court that the vacant in-service SS seats have to be surrendered to AIQ as per a 2022 decision of the top court in N Kartikeyan v TN, which was cited by the May 29 order.The bench said, “Every state has in-service candidates. They are government doctors. The cutoff for them must be low since their merit comes down as they have to serve and study at the same time compared to post-graduate students who may be sitting at home.”Supporting the TN government’s decision to reserve seats for such doctors, the court observed, “For super speciality courses, there must be a quota for in-service doctors as they are serving the people of the state. If AIQ takes it away, what is left for them.”The TN government lawyer B Karunakaran accepted notice on behalf of the state as the court posted the matter in July.The petition by the TN Medical Officers Association stated that the policy of reservation for in-service doctors was introduced to address the shortage of specialist doctors in government hospitals and medical colleges and to ensure that Super Specialty qualifications acquired through public institutions strengthen the state healthcare system. The members of the association who petitioned to the top court had participated in the NEET-SS 2025 counselling process and had a legitimate expectation that seats earmarked for in-service candidates would remain available till the completion of the admission process.