[ Bengia Ajum ]
NAHARLAGUN, 19 Oct: The junior doctors association of Arunachal Pradesh (JDAAP) recently raised three important issues concerning the rights of the indigenous people of state at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS), the lone medical college of the state.
The association has made a very serious allegation that within the 85% state quota; there is another 20% reservation for non-APSTs in the TRIHMS.
As per the directives of the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), government of India and the guidelines of the National Medical Council (NMC), the MBBS seat distribution in a government medical college in India is 15 % All India Quota (AIQ) through all India UG NEET and 85% state quota.
In the 85% state quota which accounts for 43 seats of the total 50 at TRIHMS, 31 have been reserved for APST, 8 for non-APST, and one for the person with benchmark disability (PWBD). Also, there is a quota for non-resident Indian (NRI) (two seats) and TRIHMS faculty quota of one seat. These distributions of seats are seen as depriving the rights of the indigenous tribal population of the state.
“Our state is a 100 percent tribal state and TRIHMS being the lone medical college with limited seats (only 50 MBBS intake every year), this decision to keep the reservation for non-APST in the state quota is depriving local tribal students. The entire 85% MBBS seats should be exclusively kept for local APST students only. The non-APST already gets reservation under All India Quota (7 seats at TRIHMS),” JDAAP said.
While terming the decision to keep the 20% MBBS quota for non-APSTs in TRIHMS as anti-Arunachali and anti-APST, they demanded for the immediate scrapping of the quota.
Also, question has been raised over the decision to keep the NRI quota in TRIHMS. These two NRI MBBS seats are offered at around one lakh US dollars (Rs 80 lakhs/seat) every year to non-APSTs and people who can afford it.
“The popular argument by few that funds collected through the so-called NRI seat will benefit the institute in terms of self-finance is naive, myopic, and totally indifferent to its long-term ramifications. Instead, the NRI quota, in the long run, will be a gateway to corruption and nepotism, hampering and depriving our state’s genuine human resource,” the association added.
Further, the association raised suspicion alleging that some are using fake eligibility criteria for getting admission under the NRI quota.
“Except states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, etc. which really have sizable bonafide NRI citizens of their own, no other states in the country have this NRI quota in govt. medical colleges. Our immediate neighbouring state of Assam which has more than 1000 MBBS seats does not have a single NRI quota. It does not make any sense to keep NRI quota in Arunachal,” the association said.
Another decision that has come under scrutiny is the move to keep one seat reserved for the faculty of TRIHMS.
“The decision to incentivize one MBBS seat to a faculty is biased in nature and is against the basic constitutional framework of the right to equality. It also derails the fundamental principle of fair competition, meritocracy and a level playing field that should exist in a democratic setup. This anti-poor and anti-merit seat should be immediately scrapped,” the JDAAP added.
The association has written to Chief Minister Pema Khandu in this regard and has appealed to him to look into it.
“Our goal is to safeguard the interest of tribal students of the state. We hope the CM will look into this seriously and take a decision in the best interest of the state,” stated JDAAP.
