CHENNAI: The Social Justice Conference of the Doctors' Association for Social Equality has demanded that all-India quotasin medical education — instituted by a recent Supreme Court judgment — be dismantled. It also said that the Medical Council of India (MCI) Amendment Bill be dropped.

The quota, that sets aside a chunk of seats in Government medical colleges for all-India students in open competition, would substantially reduce the 69 per cent reservation system in Tamil Nadu, G. R. Ramachandran, Association general secretary said at a recent press conference.

Female and rural students and government doctors doing post-graduate courses would be affected. The services of super-specialty doctors would increasingly become available only in private practice, he said. The number of Dalits in courses that have eight seats or less was already negligible, he claimed.

The MCI Amendment Bill brought the Council directly under the Central Government and could lead to Government intervention, he alleged. The amendment sought to institute the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Director Generals of the Health Services and Armed Forces and the Director of the National Board of Examiners on the MCI Board and gave the Government powers to dissolve the Board, Dr. Ramachandran said.

Amendments could seek to make the Council functioning transparent and democratic , but not centralise power. The move was only to enable the Centre to directly administer and allow the entry of foreign universities, he alleged.

Other demands included ending repeated talk about examinations for renewal for doctors and the appointment of doctors on a contract basis and an increase in the stipend for post-graduate students.

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