Doctors and reservations

Sir, - That the President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan has supported the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Digvijay Singh's plea for relaxing the qualifying marks for SC/ST candidates in the entrance examination for post graduate medical courses (The Hindu, June 13) is indeed disturbing, coming as it does in the wake of the Supreme Court's view (in the P. Shrivadsava case in 1999) that the disparity between marks fixed for the reserved and general category should not be big and that the matter be left to expert bodies such as the Medical Council of India to determine what the difference should be.

In the light of this, the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2000 which stipulates 50 per cent as minimum marks for admission to these courses should be seen as making no distinction in this regard between the reserved and general categories.

The President's letter (to Mr. Singh) that he was taking up the matter with the Prime Minister - obviously to bring pressure on the MCI to relax the P.G. Regulations - does not augur well for the future of medical education in the country.

Experts in the medical field should raise their voice against the move. Their silence in the matter will tantamount to abetting the politicians in usurping the powers of the professionals.

N.K. Suryanarayanan,

Bangalore

* * *

Sir, - The President's penchant for comment on public issues is well known. His support to Mr. Digvijay Singh, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, on his plea for relaxation for SCs/STs in medical entrance tests is the latest attempt. It is unfortunate that the President should express his opinion on a sensitive issue before making discreet enquiries with the authority concerned, the Medical Council of India, which establishes the criteria for selection of candidates for the medical course.

Lowering of standards in favour of SCs/STs for admission to medical courses will ultimately harm the weaker sections instead of benefiting them. Today's medical students are tomorrow's guardians of public health. Any lenient view now will have disastrous consequences later. The nation's health is at stake.

Merit should be an essential criterion for both admission and qualification of medical students.

M.S.R. Prasad,

Chennai

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