The Supreme Court has raised concerns over the issue of seat blocking during NEET-PG counselling, stating that it unfairly impacts higher-ranked candidates and weakens the merit-based selection process. The court has now issued strict guidelines to stop this practice in postgraduate medical admissions.
Seat blocking happens when candidates accept admission offers from multiple institutions as a backup strategy. Later, they pick their preferred college and leave the rest, causing those seats to remain unused for a while. By the time these seats become available again, most top candidates have already joined elsewhere. As a result, candidates with lower ranks end up getting these seats, disrupting the fairness of the admission process.
Supreme Court Cracks Down on Seat Blocking in NEET-PG
In a major step towards ensuring fairness in postgraduate medical admissions, the Supreme Court of India has taken a firm stance against the practice of seat blocking in NEET-PG counselling. On April 29, the court passed a significant order requiring all private and deemed universities to declare their complete fee structure before the counselling process begins.
This includes details of tuition fees, hostel charges, caution deposits, and other related expenses.
A bench led by Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan emphasized that seat blocking not only misrepresents the actual number of available seats but also leads to an unfair selection process, disadvantaging many deserving candidates.
Also Read: NEET-UG 2024 Case Highlights
Supreme Court Orders Counselling Calendar, Fee Regulation, and Strict Penalties to Stop Seat Blocking
To tackle the problem of seat blocking in NEET-PG admissions, the Supreme Court has directed the creation of a nationwide, synchronized counselling calendar. This will coordinate All India Quota and state-level counselling rounds, reducing confusion and preventing candidates from blocking multiple seats.
The court also instructed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to implement a centralized fee regulation system. This aims to standardize and clarify fee structures across all private and deemed medical colleges.
Strict penalties were introduced for those caught seat blocking. These penalties include forfeiture of security deposits, disqualification from future NEET-PG exams, and blacklisting of colleges involved in the malpractice.
Additionally, candidates who have already secured admission will be allowed to upgrade their seats after the second counselling round without reopening the process for new applicants.
To increase transparency, the court ordered the publication of raw scores, answer keys, and normalization formulas for exams conducted in multiple shifts.
This landmark judgment follows a plea by the Uttar Pradesh government and the Director General of Medical Education & Training challenging a 2018 Allahabad High Court order related to seat blocking and compensation to affected students.
FAQs
Q.1. What is seat blocking in NEET-PG counselling?
Ans. Seat blocking occurs when candidates hold multiple seats by accepting admission offers as backup, later vacating less preferred seats, which delays seat availability for other candidates.
Q.2. Why did the Supreme Court intervene in seat blocking?
Ans. The court intervened because seat blocking harms higher-ranked candidates and undermines merit-based selection, causing unfairness in the postgraduate medical admission process.
Q.3. What new rules has the Supreme Court introduced to prevent seat blocking?
Ans. The court mandated a synchronized counselling calendar, centralized fee regulation by the NMC, strict penalties for offenders, and allowed seat upgrades without reopening admissions.
Q.4. What penalties can candidates or colleges face for seat blocking?
Ans. Penalties include forfeiture of security deposits, disqualification from future NEET-PG exams for candidates, and blacklisting of colleges involved in seat blocking.
Q.5. How does the Supreme Court ensure transparency in NEET-PG admissions?
Ans. The court ordered publishing raw scores, answer keys, and normalization formulas for exams held in multiple shifts to increase transparency and fairness.
