CHANDRA PRAKASH SHARMA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present batch of writ petitions have been filed by the serving Medical Officers who are members of the Rajasthan Medical and Health Service Rules, 1963 and who appeared in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, 2017 (in short 'NEET, 2017) and as alleged serving in remote and/or difficult areas in the State of Rajasthan and qualified the test with the minimum benchmark, as referred to u/Reg.9 Proviso-III of the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000 which has been lastly amended and notified vide Notification dated 15.02.2012 and became applicable from the academic year 2013-14 and are eligible to claim weightage in marks obtained as an incentive at the rate of 10% of the marks obtained for each year of service in remote and/or difficult areas upto the maximum of 30% of the marks obtained in NEET and that has been subverted by the Government while acting upon the scheme of Regulations, 2000 and Reg.9 in particular by issuance of order dated 20.03.2017 which according to the petitioners is to defeat the mandate of Clause (IV) of Reg. 9 of the Regulations, 2000.

(2.) Apart from the writ petitions, a special appeal has also been preferred by an in-service Doctor assailing the interim order passed by the ld.Single Judge dated 03.04.2017 in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.4759/2017 which came to be preferred by the candidates (Medical Graduates) (non-service candidates) who after completion of their MBBS appeared along with the petitioners in NEET, 2017 and it was prayed by them that the respondents should proceed to undertake the counselling without extending any benefit of incentive marks to any in-service candidate and to that extent the Government order dated 20.03.2017 extending weightage of 10% in the marks obtained as an incentive to the in-service Doctors who as alleged have served in remote and/or difficult areas of the State of Rajasthan may be quashed and set aside. Although either of the writ petitioner who preferred writ petition before the ld.Single Judge are not claiming any benefit/weightage since they are not the in-service Doctors/Medical Officers and are either way not eligible to seek any weightage in the form of incentive under the scheme of Regulations, 2000.

(3.) The Id. Single Judge of this Court taking note of judgment of the Apex Court in State of Uttar Pradesh and Anr. v. Dinesh Singh Chauhan reported in (2016) 9 SCC 749 passed the interim order dated 03.04.2017 that in the absence of a clear decision being taken by the State Government identifying difficult and remote areas to avail incentive to in-service candidates under proviso to Reg. 9(IV) of the Regulations, 2000 it cannot be extended to them and granted liberty to the State Government to notify 'difficult and remote area' based on the objective and relevant considerations for the purpose of extending incentive to the in-service candidates under proviso to Reg. 9(IV) of the Regulations, 2000 and what is being identified by the State Government, according to its geographical area as difficult and remote areas in the prima faice view of the ld.Single Judge may not be sufficient for the participants to claim incentive since remote and difficult areas as being referred to u/Reg. 9(IV) of the Regulations, 2000, as per the ld.Single Judge, appears to be areas with specific handicaps working within which an element of sacrifice and public service higher than routine is evident and obviously what has been presently identified by the State Government are neither difficult nor remote areas cannot be extended for admitting the students for Post Graduate Degree Courses on the basis of NEET Examination, 2000 and admission to Post Graduate Degree Courses is running behind time schedule and by this mechanism, if the State Government fails to act upon, the mandate of Reg.9(IV) of the Regulations, 2000, as directed by the ld.Single Judge, would very easily frustrate the rights of the in-service candidates/Medical Officers who had appeared and qualified the NEET Examination, 2017 claiming weightage in the form of incentive based on the service which they rendered and treated by the State Government to be working in difficult or remote areas.