Junior Doctors' Association of Arunachal seek scrapping of MBBS seat quota

A CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The Junior Doctors' Association of Arunachal Pradesh (JDAAP) has appealed to the State Government to scrap the Non-APST, NRI and Faculty quota from the 85% MBBS seats reserved for the students of the State in the Tomo Riba Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (TRIHMS).

Speaking to the reporters at the press club here on Friday, JDAAP member Dr Takam Saktar said that the reservation for Non-APST, NRI and Faculty within the 85% is not only setting a wrong precedence but also is an encroachment upon the indigenous rights of the MBBS students of the State.

He said that according to the National Medical Council (NMC), 15% is reserved as All India Quota (AIQ) and 85% is State quota. Accordingly, of the total 50 seats in TRIHMS, 43 seats are reserved for the State and 7 reserved under AIQ.

"Unfortunately, within the 85% reserved for the State, 20% is now being reserved for the Non-APST. This clearly indicates that the rights of indigenous are being curtailed. Hence, this reservation is anti-tribal and should be scrapped immediately," he said, adding that no other State has such reservations curtailing the rights of the locals.

He said that the entire 85% quota should be exclusively for the students of the State.

"Likewise, the NRI quota in TRIHMS should also be scrapped as the institution already lacks sufficient seats. Moreover, there are no bona fide NRI citizens in the State," he said.

Dr Saktar also said that the BRI quota not only deprives two MBBS students, but in the long run will open the flood gate for corruption and nepotism in the recruitment process. He added that many States have already scraped the policy in government medical colleges following public outcry and protests.

He said that officials believe that the NRI quota will benefit the institution in terms of finance and support the development of the institute.

"The statement is dubious as we feel the institution is to create human resources for the greater interest of the public and not for monetary benefit. Moreover, this reservation is under scanner as it will promote fake eligibility criteria to avail NRI quota," he added.

He said that the State Government should also scrap the faculty quota which is discriminatory in nature and derails the fundamental principle of fair competition, meritocracy and against the constitutional framework of 'Right to Equality'.

"The State department of Health & Family Welfare and the Chief Minister should immediately intervene in the matter and bring about a for the greater interest of the local students. This policy adopted is ill-conceived and calculated to deprive the meritorious students," he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Kamta Beyong said that the State Government should immediately consider the appeal and accordingly initiate remedial measures by cancelling the MBBS quota.

He said that the institution is very new and has only completed 4 years till date. This reservation for NRI, Non-APST and faculty from the 85% will create serious issues in the long run.

"Therefore, we also appeal to the students' community of the State to come to the fore to take collective responsibility in effort to scrap the reservation. We have also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister to look into the matter," he added.

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