HC stays Centre’s order to reduce MBBS seats

Ranchi: A division bench of the Jharkhand high court on Friday stayed the July 15 order of the Centre that reduced the number of MBBS seats in three government medical colleges in the state from 350 to 190. The decision was taken on the recommendation of the Medical Council of India (MCI) that expressed dissatisfaction with the standards being followed in the three medical colleges.
While a group of students resorted to a democratic way of protest sitting on a dharna, another filed a petition with the Jharkhand high court challenging the decision of the Centre. Soon the state government also filed a writ petition in the high court.
Advocate general R S Mazumdar, representing the state, argued on various points. “In Jharkhand, counselling for the 350 seats began on June 6, whereas the cancellation of 160 seats was communicated by the Centre only on July 15,” he said.
Mazumdar said yet another PIL was filed by Prem Kataruka underscoring the shortage of doctors here and the arbitrary decision of MCI to slash down seats without giving the state an opportunity to revamp its infrastructure. The court of justice S Chandrashekhar shifted the PIL to a division bench where the rest of the cases, including that of the state government, were being heard.