Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has directed the state govt to maintain the current number of available seats in the ongoing counselling process for senior residency at govt hospitals in Rajasthan. It has also asked key officials of the medical education department to appear before the court to respond to allegations of arbitrariness in the seat allotment.The directions came during a hearing on July 30 after a group of post-graduate medical students from the 2021 batch challenged the counselling and seat allotment process, claiming it violated merit and fairness.The bench of Justice Sameer Jain ordered the chairman of the counselling board for senior residents to be present in court. It also directed the secretary of the medical education department to attend the next hearing either in person or through video conferencing. The court emphasised that any further delay could cause irreparable harm to the petitioners and dilute their career prospects.One of the counsels for the petitioners, Purvi Mathur, said the core issue in this case revolves around the discriminatory treatment faced by postgraduate medical students from the 2021 batch who pursued PG in Rajasthan and were out of state. These students, including the petitioners, completed their MD/MS degrees from govt colleges after signing a bond to serve the state for two years or pay a Rs 10 lakh penalty. After their results, the state issued a single round of counselling for allotment to Senior Resident (SR) posts—a mandatory step for career progression.However, unlike previous batches, the 2021 batch was neither given multiple counselling rounds nor considered for leftover vacancies, which were instead filled through walk-in interviews and lateral entry via the principal’s pool. The state explicitly barred the 2021 batch from participating in these later processes, denying them further opportunities for seat allotment or upgradation, and leaving many eligible candidates without senior residency postings at govt hospitals.The petitioners argued this violates the principles of parity, legitimate expectation, and equality. They also contend that the state’s arbitrary policy change lacks transparency and fairness and imposes undue hardship on candidates contractually bound to serve. They are seeking judicial intervention to restore their right to fair and equal opportunity in public employment. They claimed the instruction booklet issued by the govt explicitly prohibited changes once allotments were made, yet the process was allegedly being manipulated.The high court has listed the matter for further hearing on Aug 1 and directed the concerned officials to furnish complete records related to the counselling and allotment process.
‘Maintain senior residency counselling seats’ | Jaipur News
