'Very sorry picture,' SC on 1003 super specialty medical seats going waste

The Supreme Court has noted with concern "a very sorry picture" showing that 1003 precious super specialty seats in the country are going to waste, though there is always a shortage of such doctors.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Aravind Kumar asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to impress upon the Union government to find a solution to this problem.

Bhati, for her part, submitted that the Union government proposed to appoint a Committee under the Chairmanship of Director General of Health Services, consisting of all the stakeholders including the representatives of the states and the private medical colleges so that a solution could be found out for such a problem.

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The process of admission for the next academic session will start in the month of July, 2023, the bench noted.

"We, therefore, request the Additional Solicitor General of India to impress upon the said proposed committee to come out with a solution, prior to the commencement of the next academic session," the bench said.

The court asked the Union government to file their status report in this regard before July 4, the next date of hearing.aishwarad

The court was dealing with a writ petition filed by Kevin Joy and others seeking a direction to the refund of fees and return of original documents of the candidates after their resignation from the seats.

"The present petition depicts a very sorry picture that 1003 precious super specialty seats are going to waste, inasmuch as nobody could be admitted on the said seats. On the one hand, we find that there is always a shortage of Super Specialty Doctors and on the other hand these precious seats remain unfilled," the bench said.

The court directed all the concerned colleges to return the original documents/papers of the petitioners, while fixing the issue of the refund of fees for consideration subsequently.