Chennai, Aug 22 (IANS): After the Tamil Nadu state government announced 50 per cent reservation for MDS admissions to in-service doctors, the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association has demanded that this be extended for super-specialty medical courses like DM and Mch.
Dr. Akilan, state president of Tamil Nadu Medical Officers association welcomed the decision of the state government for providing the reservation for BDS doctors in the government service and said that the same be extended for MD/MS and DM/Mch courses.
Dr Swaminathan, President of the Service Doctors and Postgraduates Association also thanked the state government for providing the 50 per cent quota for in-service doctors. He said, "This has been a long-standing demand of government doctors and we expect the government to implement the same quota for admissions to MD/MS courses as well as super-specialty streams like DM/MCh."
The association had in a petition in 2020 to the government complained that in the absence of an in-house service quota, service candidates getting into MDS in the government dental colleges were zero in 2019 and three in 2020.
The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) which has commenced the admission procedure for MDS courses in government and self-financing colleges for the 2021-22 academic year has stated in the prospectus the provision of 50 per cent quota for in-service doctors.
According to the prospectus of the DME, of the total seats sanctioned for MDS courses in government dental courses, 50 per cent were allotted to the All India Quota for allotment by the Director-General of Health Services.
The balance of 50 per cent of the seats would be allocated under the state quota under the first phase of counselling and of the 50 per cent of seats in the state government quota, 50 per cent will be exclusively allocated to the in-service candidates working in state government hospitals and other institutions. The balance 50 per cent will be in the open category and both service candidates and non-service candidates can apply. The seats will be filled up based on the marks secured in NEET, along with eligible incentive marks.
There are 42 seats for MDS in Government Dental colleges of Tamil Nadu while there 268 seats in self-financing colleges of the states.
Dr. Akilan said the service quota has been denied since 2017 and the association had staged several protests and taken up the matter legally.
The Supreme Court has also given a ruling that states can reserve 50 per cent seats for in-service candidates. In a statement, he said, "The state government has now given 50 per cent reservation in MDS courses for in-service doctors and we want the government to extend this for MD/MS and DM/MCh courses also."