Rajasthan Doctors demand SR Counselling on NEET PG scores

Jaipur: The resident doctors of
Rajasthan are demanding counselling of senior resident seats on NEET PG score.

In this regard, the doctors recently met with the Secretary of the Medical Education
Department regarding Senior Resident Counselling 2025 and proposed their demands, including the counselling of SRs on NEET PG marks.

After the government issued
an order to use MS/MD score for SR counselling of 2021 batch who just completed
their MBBS, the associations of resident doctors including Jaipur Association
of Resident Doctors (JARD) and United Doctors Front (UDF Rajasthan) demanded an
immediate withdrawal of the new rule and urged the government to use NEET PG 2021
scores for SR counselling, citing that as it is the most fair and transparent method.

Talking to Medical
Dialogues, Dr Bharat Pareek, President of UDF Rajasthan and member of JARD, stated,
“Every year the Senior Resident Counseling happens based on NEET scores.
However, this year, all of a sudden, the government issued an order on March 23 stating that the counselling would be based on University passing marks. MD/MS
exams across Rajasthan colleges (SPMC, SMS, JLN, etc.) have different examiner
leniency and marking standards. Comparing these scores is unfair, as they lack
uniformity. MD/MS marks assess competence but are not designed for competitive
ranking, making them unsuitable for SR counselling. Subjective scoring and
inter-college variation make MD/MS marks unreliable for competitive
counselling.”

The resident doctors also
pointed out that NEET PG is a standardized exam conducted under the same
conditions, ensuring a fair and objective measure of merit. It objectively
reflects candidates’ knowledge and ranks them fairly. NEET PG uses MCQs with
computerized evaluation, eliminating human bias, unlike MD/MS exams, which
involve subjective assessment. Moreover, Rajasthan has used NEET PG scores for
SR counselling since 2021, making it the accepted and fair norm.

“The sudden shift to
MD/MS scores mid-counselling is arbitrary, unfair, and unethical. Candidates
appeared for NEET PG 2021 expecting their scores to be used for SR counselling,
as per the established practice. All issues were discussed in depth, and Shri
Ambrish Kumar, Secretary, Medical Education, had a positive attitude on all
points. With this collaborative approach, we are moving towards a new direction,”
stated Dr. Pareek.

Talking about the outcome
of such a decision, the associations also pointed out that high NEET PG scorers
could lose seats due to inconsistent MD/MS marks. It undermines the
significance of scoring well in a national-level objective exam. This change
could lead to legal challenges, delaying the process and affecting hospital
functioning, they said

In a letter to Gajendra
Singh Khimsar, Cabinet Minister of the Medical & Health Department in the
Government of Rajasthan, the association has also pointed out that it was
decided to conduct counseling process for a total of 318 Senior Resident (812)
posts in SMS Medical College, Jaipur, while only 139 posts have been mentioned
in the final seat matrix. Hence, the associations have demanded that the vacant
seats should be included in the seat matrix. Hence, the association demanded
that all the principals of medical colleges should be directed to submit a
proper list of vacancies.

“SMS Medical College,
which is the largest and major medical institution of the state, where more
than ten thousand patients come to OPD every day, there is a need to increase
the posts of senior residents here, not to cut it, but here the senior resident
posts should be in accordance with the PG seats, hence the number of 512 posts
should be increased further in SMS so that the common people of the state can
get better treatment,” the letter reads. The resident doctors also demanded
that as before, the merit list of in-service and non-service residents should
be released separately, and counselling should be done accordingly. According to
Dr. Pareek, Shri Ambrish Kumar, Secretary, Medical Education, has agreed to withdraw
the new order regarding SR Counselling rule while assuring them of immediate action
on other demands also.