SC says no medical seats should remain vacant, directs Centre to act

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that seats in medical courses, particularly super speciality courses, must not remain vacant, emphasising the need for urgent action. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan observed, “Seats also cannot go vacant,” while hearing a plea on the matter.

The issue of unfilled super speciality seats was first flagged by the apex court in April 2023. At that time, the court described the situation as a “very sorry picture,” highlighting that 1,003 critical super speciality seats were left unfilled despite a shortage of specialised doctors. The Centre had proposed the formation of a committee to address the issue, which was accepted.

On Friday, the Centre informed the bench that a committee comprising stakeholders, including representatives from states and private medical colleges, under the chairmanship of the Director General of Health Services, had been constituted and submitted its recommendations.

The court directed the Centre to convene a meeting with all relevant stakeholders and come up with a concrete proposal based on the committee’s findings. “On one hand, there is a persistent shortage of super speciality doctors, and on the other, these precious seats remain unfilled. This imbalance must be corrected,” the bench remarked. The Centre was given three months to implement the directive, with the matter scheduled for further hearing in April. Stakeholders are expected to collaborate to ensure no seats go to waste in the future.