The super-specialty doctor seats that are unfilled in medical colleges all across India are of concern to the Supreme Court of India. A group of students who had petitioned the court to challenge arbitrary restrictions that forbade them from changing courses after enrolling in them once and subjected doctors to harsh fines were heard by a panel of justices led by Justices BR Gavai and Pankaj Mittal.
The judges stated, “We are striving to be a nation with top-notch healthcare, and while we claim to be short on doctors, in reality, we have seats opening up for the doctors.” “Super-specialty hospital beds are a priceless national resource. They shouldn’t be allowed to stand empty.
The matter will be heard again on April 14 after the court requested Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to clarify the guidelines. The ASG informed the court that although they have already removed the penalty provision in the majority of instances, they will wait for orders before doing so in this specific group of cases.
Senior attorney Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued at the hearing that students should be permitted to switch to a different stream at the super-speciality level without suffering consequences. “It’s not right to impose a penalty like this,” he remarked.
A student who wanted to transfer from a private to a government college was told that he had to pay his tuition for the entire course before being permitted to do so, according to a different batch of petitions, and the court responded by sending a notice to the ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences & Research. The argument made in the petition, which opposed the Calcutta High Court’s ruling, was that forcing the migrated student to pay his tuition price twice would result in an unfair situation.
The court pointed out that payment of fees for the remaining semesters is not covered by the applicable University and Medical Council of India laws, and that migration should only be permitted in rare circumstances based on legitimate reasons.
Given the lack of doctors in India, the Supreme Court’s concern regarding open positions for super-specialty doctors is a significant step. A step towards ensuring that the nation’s healthcare system is reinforced and that patients receive the finest care possible is the court’s decision to seek clarification on the laws and sanctions imposed on physicians.
