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The Hindu
a day ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Tamil Nadu regains 39 super speciality medical seats for the second round of counselling
After having to surrender 145 super speciality medical seats reserved for in-service candidates to the All-India Quota (AIQ) counselling, Tamil Nadu is getting back 39 of those seats for the second round of State counselling, which is yet to be scheduled. In Tamil Nadu, 50% of seats in super speciality courses in government medical colleges are reserved for in-service candidates, totalling 215. The first round of counselling for the State quota in-service candidates was completed on May 27. The State had then requested the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to indicate the schedule to conduct the second round of counselling to allow upgradation for the in-service candidates. However, in early June, the DGHS asked the State to revert the vacant in-service seats to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to include them in the All-India seat matrix since the second round of All-India Counselling had started. Following this, 145 seats meant for in-service candidates were surrendered for the AIQ, sparking criticism among a section of government doctors, since it went against the 50% reservation for in-service candidates. Health Minister Ma. Subramanian wrote to the Union Health Minister expressing concern about surrendering unfilled in-service seats to the AIQ without conducting the mandatory second round of counselling at the State-level. He also sought his intervention to ensure that all 50% seats earmarked for in-service candidates under the State quota are retained and made available for the second round of State-level super speciality counselling. However, with the second round of AIQ counselling completed, 39 seats are being surrendered to the State. Request to MCC In addition, the State has sought the MCC to return the seats of Tamil Nadu candidates who have gone on to choose seats in institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research through the Institutes of National Importance-Combined Entrance Test, a health official said, adding: 'We have sought returning of such seats so that we could add on to the second round of State counselling.' A source in the Health Department said all eligible in-service candidates should have been called for the first round of counselling to ensure that more seats were filled.
The Print
21-06-2025
- Health
- The Print
ICMR prepares India's first national rare blood donor registry
The integration will help people with rare blood groups easily trace blood banks and procure blood. It will also assist the blood banks manage their stock and donors through a centralised system. The ICMR-NIIH is now in talks with the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) so that the rare donor registry portal can be integrated with e-Raktakosh, a platform which currently provides information about blood availability, Dr Manisha Madkaikar, Director of ICMR-Centre for Research Management and Control of Haemoglobinopathies (CRHCM) in Nagpur said. New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI) The National Institute of Immunohaematology in Mumbai under the India Council of Medical Research has for the first time created a national 'rare blood donor registry' for patients with rare and uncommon blood types who need frequent transfusion especially in conditions such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease. India, with a population of more than 142 crore, has over 4,000 licensed blood banks, according to the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). India relies heavily on transfusions due to a higher prevalence of blood diseases and complications during pregnancy, Dr Madkaikar said. 'Thalassemia itself contributes to 1 to 1.5 lakh patients who require recurrent transfusions,' she said. Additionally, with more than 1,200 road accidents occurring every day in India, and with every year 60 million surgeries, 240 million major operations, 331 million cancer-related procedures, and 10 million pregnancy complications, a serious call for blood transfusion is recognised, she said. In majority of blood banks in India, only ABO and RhD are antigens matched prior to cross-matching for issuing of red blood cell components. However, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) has recognised more than 360 antigens in 47 blood group systems. Blood banks do not perform testing of these minor blood group antigens routinely, explained Dr Madkaikar. 'As a result, a mismatch of minor antigens between donor and patient blood group (BG) profiles can lead to red cell alloimmunization (1-3 per cent in the general population, 8-18 per cent in thalassaemic patients). About 25 per cent of all immunized patients have been reported to receive unsatisfactory transfusion support due to presence of multiple antibodies or antibodies to high frequency antigens (HFA),' she said. Rare blood groups are those which lack HFA (1:1000 or less), or are negative for a combination of common antigens, or have a null phenotype. 'Meeting a demand for rare blood supply is challenging and time consuming for such patients. The need of a patient for rare blood can be the start of a series of events that may extend beyond the local blood centre and become a national or even an international search,' Dr Madkaikar said. To overcome this challenge, an inventory of extensively typed blood donors and rare blood type donors is required, she said. For this, internationally 27 countries have operational national rare donor registry programmes. India, however, is not a contributor country, she said. In 2019, however, ICMR-NIIH was granted Centre of Excellence project under the aegis of ICMR, where an initiative was taken to screen 4,000 'O' group regular blood donors for all clinically important antigens using high throughput molecular assays, from four different regions of India in collaboration with the big blood banks from KEM Hospital Mumbai, PGIMER Chandigarh, MCH Kolkatta and JIPMER Puducherry. 'More than 600 donors negative for combination of antigens were identified along with 250 very rare blood group donors. The registry also includes 170 Bombay blood group donors, which is the commonly required rare blood type in India (approx 120-150 units/year). To access this inventory (ICMR-Rare Donor Registry of India (RDRI)), a web-based portal has been developed for systematic requisition and provision of blood to patients on time,' Dr Madkaikar said. 'There is a plan to integrate this rare donor registry with e-Raktakosh of DGHS so that all the blood banks can contribute their rare donors and help in expansion of the registry. Last month we held a meeting with the DGHS,' she said. PTI PLB ZMN This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Delhi government entrusts doctors' registration to DGHS
New Delhi: The Delhi government has assigned the responsibility of doctors' registration in the national capital to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Health Minister Pankaj Singh said on Wednesday. The move comes following the dissolution of the Delhi Medical Council (DMC). "In light of the Lieutenant Governor's decision to dissolve the DMC, we have transferred its powers to the DGHS, which will now act as the registrar for doctors in Delhi," Singh said. Lt Governor V K Saxena approved the proposal for the dissolution of the DMC after allegations of irregularities. He has also directed the health department to reconstitute the DMC within two months. Singh said, "Any irregularities or corruption within the DMC -- whether procedural or financial -- will also be thoroughly investigated." Officials from the health department had sent a proposal to Saxena seeking control of the body under Section 29 of the DMC Act, 1997. The DMC is a statutory body responsible for regulating the practice of medicine in the national capital and ensuring that private doctors follow ethics. Meanwhile, speaking on the issue of counterfeit cancer medicines , the minister said the government has gone into alert mode after receiving complaints about fake drugs circulating in the market. "160 samples of cancer medicines were collected randomly from across the city and sent for lab testing," the minister told PTI. "We have collected samples from 160 locations. The test results are expected in three to four days. If any sample is found to be fake, strict legal action will be taken," he said. He urged cancer patients in Delhi, "Please ensure you are buying from genuine sources. If you suspect any fake or duplicate medicines, report them to us immediately - we will take strong action against those involved."
Indian Express
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
When will disabled NEET aspirants get their SC-sanctioned rights?
Written by Satendra Singh A NEET aspirant with a disability has been messaging me continually since March. Her only question: 'When will the National Medical Commission (NMC) issue revised disability guidelines for MBBS and MD/MS, as per the Supreme Court's directions?' On 14 June 2025, the NEET-UG results were declared. Over 750 students with disabilities from diverse communities — General, OBC, SC, ST, and EWS — have qualified. However, their joy is short-lived. The silence of the NMC and the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has left them paralysed by uncertainty. Which guidelines will apply? Have more disability assessment centres been designated? Which colleges can they safely choose? The promised web portal listing accessibility-compliant colleges — as ordered by the apex court — is still absent. This is not merely a bureaucratic delay. It seems to be a defiance of the Supreme Court's orders, a betrayal of India's constitutional promise of equality, and perhaps even contempt of court. In April 2022, the Delhi High Court in Neha Pudil vs NMC directed that the discriminatory disability guidelines be revised within six months. Two years later, that direction remains unimplemented. Then in October 2024, the Supreme Court in Omkar Ramchandra Gond vs UOI mandated the NMC to revise its guidelines before the NEET 2025 brochure was published and to establish an Appellate Medical Body. The brochure was released, but the guidelines and the body were not. In the same month, in another landmark judgment — Om Rathod vs DGHS — the apex court went further, ordering the establishment of enabling units for reasonable accommodations, accessibility compliance details on the NEET portal, functional support, including assistive technology, modified pedagogy, and trained staff. None of these directives has been followed. By November 2024, the situation was so dire that the Supreme Court had to summon the DGHS in Anmol vs UOI. Only after the embarrassment of public scrutiny did Anmol receive his rightful MBBS seat. Still, the DGHS has ignored directions to establish Disability Assessment Boards (DABs) in every state and to include doctors with disabilities in these boards, as well as provide them with training on disability justice and ableism. Following the SC's lead, the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January also ordered the formation of an Appellate Board. The NMC ignored that, too. In February 2025, the apex court finally struck down the infamous 'both hands intact' clause as ableist and left scope for further compliance review. But in March, the Suyash Patil case exposed the NMC's indifference again: the student lost an entire academic year due to a clerical lapse in DAB records. The NMC's solution? Accommodate next year. Even when the NMC did form a committee, it stuffed it with the same architects of the old discriminatory policy. Tokenism ruled: just one doctor with a disability, from an institution outside the NMC's purview, with no undergraduate programme. Expectedly, this committee missed its 15 April deadline to publish the revised guidelines. Then came May, and the Kabir Paharia case. The Supreme Court gave relief only one day before NEET 2025. Another student was rescued. Another year lost. Another trauma inflicted. As of today, both the NMC and DGHS have violated their affidavit in the Anmol matter, which had promised to release guidelines by 15 April 2025. NEET 2025 results are out. But disabled aspirants are frozen in limbo, deprived of the ability to plan or hope. Worse, the very committee revising the guidelines includes no medical student with a disability. This is a violation not just of principles of participatory justice, but also of international norms. The World Federation for Medical Education — to which NMC is affiliated — mandates in its Basic Medical Standards (2020) under Clauses 4 and 8 that students must be involved in governance. What we are witnessing is institutionalised impunity. The NMC and DGHS have now routinely defied not just one, but multiple High Court and Supreme Court directives. Why then has no contempt proceeding been initiated? Justice delayed is not only justice denied — it becomes injustice institutionalised. Every day of inaction from the NMC and DGHS is a day of stolen dreams, heightened anxiety, and unconstitutional discrimination against India's most marginalised NEET qualifiers. It is now imperative that the Supreme Court's vacation bench takes suo motu cognisance of this deliberate, systemic, and continuing contempt — and that real accountability, not symbolic compliance, is finally enforced. The writer teaches at the University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, and is a disability rights activist. Views are personal
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
LG orders dissolution of Delhi Medical Council over ‘irregularities'
New Delhi: Lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Tuesday ordered the dissolution of Delhi Medical Council (DMC), citing alleged misuse of the authority and irregularities. He directed the health department to initiate steps for a new council. The director general health services (DGHS) is expected to take over the registrar's responsibilities temporarily. Former DMC president Dr Arun Gupta supported the decision, noting that most council activities had ceased due to the registrar's absence. The council's term was to end soon. Gupta mentioned that the only allegation against the council concerned exceeding its authority regarding the registrar's extension. He noted the medical community's surprise, particularly as the matter is still before the high court. The LG's order said: "I perused the proposal regarding dissolution of DMC for a specified period under Section 29 of the DMC Act, 1997. It is observed that the health department rightly pointed out the irregularity wherein the DMC unilaterally extended the retirement age of the registrar from 60 to 65 years without govt approval and further extended his term by one year with effect from Dec 1, 2024." The order noted, "Additionally, in response to the showcause notice, dated Feb 6, 2025, the DMC merely stated that Dr Tyagi resigned with immediate effect but did not address the unauthorised extension, which resulted in Dr Tyagi serving over five years beyond the normal retirement age." Council executive member Dr Ashwini Dalmiya stated that the dissolution was based on the registrar's extension, which was implemented by the previous council (2014-2019) and communicated to Delhi govt in 2019. The current council granted a one-year extension under the DMC Act section 36, which Delhi govt supported in their high court affidavit. He questioned govt's decision, noting the absence of evidence for financial irregularities and the pending court decision on Dr Tyagi's extension. The order also stated that two ex-officio members of DMC may continue in the council and DGHS may be assigned the responsibilities of Registrar for the intervening period. DMC elected member Dr Harish Gupta asked govt to establish a board of experienced individuals to manage DMC and hold elections by Oct. He called for an investigation into the misconduct.
