New Delhi Mar 28 PTI The Supreme Court Monday asked the Director General of Health Services DGHS to respond to a batch of petitions filed by a group of doctors seeking to participate in mop-up round of NEET-PG 2021-22 counsellingA bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appearing for DGHS to file a detailed reply on two sets of petitions filed by the doctorsThe bench told the counsel for petitioners Granting a stay on the process of counselling will be a very extreme step We are dealing with medical students If we cancel the seats then we will have to cancel all the admissions which would further delay the whole process You all should come out with a solution alsoSenior advocate Gopal Sankaranaryanan appearing for some of the petitioners said that notices have been issued by the DGHS bringing into new seats which were not available to them and now students who were below in merit will be getting better seatsAfter the second round of counselling we were allotted the seats Then DGHS issued two notices to bring into the pool some seats which were not available to them Hundreds of seats were added to the pool as a result people who were well below in merit were given seats which were not available to us he saidSenior advocate Rakesh Khanna appearing for another set of students said that there was a trend of blocking of seats and that was the reason why there were over 6000 seats in mop-up roundBhati said that the court should not allow any fresh registration in the stray round as if it is allowed then the process would become never endingShe said that only 150 new seats were added and there were only two options available that either the seats be allowed to remain vacant or added in the mop-up round so that they get filled upDuring these COVID times we need doctors This is for the first time we have added new seats in the mop-up round she saidSankaranaryanan said the entire system has been unfair to the candidates as they had to pay substantial penalties of around Rs 5 lakh if they give up their seats and at least court can order for waive of penaltiesThe bench said that if it does so then it has to do it for all the candidatesSenior advocate Sanjay Hegde for another set of petitioners said that people who are much lower in rank then me will get better discipline and these candidates will be stuck in discipline in which they had no interestMop Up round of over 6000 seats is unprecedented and moreover it is a question of equal opportunity he saidOne group of petitions before the top court filed by doctors said that they had participated in round one of the counselling and had joined one discipline but were not allowed to upgrade in round two and sought permission to appear in mop-up roundIn another set of petitions doctors have challenged the Medical Counselling Committee notice dated March 16 which restrains the participation in the mop-up round counselling if the candidate has already picked up seats in state quota PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI How long will you keep him the Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre after it sought two weeks to take a call on the status of a Pakistani national who has been languishing in a detention centre here for seven years as Islamabad refuses to accept him as its citizenA bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant granted two weeks to Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj to seek instruction whether 62-year-old Mohammad Qamar can be released to enable him to apply for Indian citizenship as his five-children are Indian citizensAt the outset senior advocate Sanjay Parikh appearing for Qamar said the government is saying that the order of top court for release of foreigners lodged in detention centres is with respect to Bangladeshi nationals and not those from PakistanHow can such a distinction be made We are only seeking enforcement of this courts order Parikh saidNataraj submitted How can a Pakistani citizen claim equal rights as an Indian citizen He has no right to do soThe bench said The question is how long you can keep him You seek instruction as to what could be done We are giving you two weeks timeOn Feb 28 the top court had asked the Centre to take a call on his release for a brief period to enable him to apply for Indian citizenshipIt had said that Qamar has served his sentence of three years and six months and after that he has been lodged in a detention centre since 2015 awaiting his deportationAt the time when Pakistan has refused to accept him as its citizen how long can you keep a person inside the top court had asked the CentreQamar was arrested on August 8 2011 from Meerut Uttar Pradesh and was held guilty by a court here for overstaying his visa He was sentenced to three years and six months in jail and a fine of Rs 500Having completed his sentence on February 6 2015 Qamar father of five was sent to the detention centre at Lampur in Narela here on February 7 2015 for deportation to Pakistan However the Pakistani government did not accept his deportation and he is still languishing at the detention centreAccording to his daughter and son who have moved the top court through advocate Srishti Agnihotri their father Qamar alias Mohammad Kamil was born in India in 1959He Qamar had gone with his mother from India to Pakistan as a child of around 7-8 years in 1967-1968 on a visa to meet his relatives there However his mother died there and he remained in Pakistan in the care of his relatives the plea of habeas corpus filed in the top court saidIt said that Qamar on attaining adulthood came back to India on a Pakistani passport in around 1989-1990 and got married to Shehnaaj Begum an Indian citizen in MeerutOut of this wedlock five children were born the plea said adding that Qamar has no documentary proof to show that he had gone with his mother to Pakistan around 1967-68 and his mother died there and therefore his story has not been believedNevertheless the undisputed fact is that he came to India around 1989-90 on a passport of Pakistan and did not renew his visa due to lack of education and subsequently got married here it saidIn Meerut he was doing menial jobs and residing there along with his family who all have Aadhaar cards issued by UIDAI the plea saidInitially Qamar filed a plea before the Delhi High Court in 2017 praying for his release so that he can stay with his familyDuring the arguments his counsel had submitted that Qamar would apply for Indian citizenship in accordance with law and also make a representation to the respective authorities giving particulars of all the family members who would stand security in case he is released from the detention centreThe High Court in its order dated March 9 2017 disposed of his plea directing that his representation be considered as per lawQamars son as per the order of the High Court made a representation to civil authority on August 11 2017 under the provisions of the Foreigners Act to allow his father to reside with his family and take proper steps for registering him as an Indian citizen and also for getting proper medical treatment for his illnessThe plea said that meanwhile with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the top court on April 13 2020 passed an order in the suo motu petition where it directed the Centre to release foreigner detainees who have been under detention for two years or more on certain terms on furnishing a bond in the sum of Rs 5000 with two sureties of the like sum of Indian citizensOnce again Qamar children moved the High Court seeking relief on the grounds of orders of the top court where the Centre submitted that it was prepared to take a humanitarian approach for releasing the father of the petitioners but Uttar Pradesh was not willing to do the sameIt had put on record the UP governments reply which said that Qamar is divorced and therefore there is no justifiable ground for him to live in India and his release from the detention centre is not recommendedThereafter the High Court said that the petitioners should approach the top court for relief PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Feb 28 PTI The Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre to make its stand clear on the status of a Pakistani national who has been languishing in a detention centre for seven years as Islamabad refuses to accept him as its citizen saying how long can you keep a person inside A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj to seek instruction whether 62-year-old Mohammad Qamar can be released for a brief period to enable him to apply for Indian citizenship as his five-children are Indian citizensNataraj said This is a peculiar case I need to take instruction We are not bound by what Pakistan is saying A person convicted under the Foreigners Act has to be kept in a detention centre He cannot be allowed to go out This is the statutory requirementThe bench said Question is that he has served his sentence of 3 years and six months Now after serving his sentence he has been lodged in a detention centre since 2015 awaiting his deportation At the time when Pakistan has refused to accept him as its citizen how long can you keep a person inside It said that Qamar has said that he wishes to apply for Indian citizenship as his children are all Indian citizensYou please take instructions whether he can be released for a brief period so that he can apply for Indian citizenship Granting citizenship is your call we are not going to interfere with that the bench said and posted the matter for further hearing after three weeksSenior advocate Sanjay Parikh appearing for Qamars children who have sought their fathers release from the detention centre pointed to an order of the top court by which it had directed the Centre to release detenues in the detention centres of Assam who had been lodged for more than two years in view of the pandemic Earlier this month the top court had sought Centres reply on the plea filed by Qamars childrenMohammad Qamar 62 was arrested on August 8 2011 from Meerut Uttar Pradesh and was held guilty by a court here for overstaying his visa He was sentenced to three years and six months in jail and a fine of Rs 500Having completed his sentence on February 6 2015 Qamar father of five was sent to the detention centre at Lampur in Narela here on February 7 2015 for deportation to Pakistan However the Pakistan government did not accept his deportation and he is still languishing at the detention centreAccording to his daughter and son who have moved the top court through advocate Srishti Agnihotri their father Qamar alias Mohammad Kamil was born in India in 1959He Qamar had gone with his mother from India to Pakistan as a child of around 7-8 years in 1967-1968 on a visa to meet his relatives there However his mother died there and he remained in Pakistan in the care of his relatives the plea of habeas corpus filed in the top court saidIt said that Qamar on attaining adulthood came back to India on a Pakistani passport in around 1989-1990 and got married to Shehnaaj Begum an Indian citizen in Meerut Uttar PradeshOut of this wedlock five children were born the plea said adding that Qamar has no documentary proof to show that he had gone with his mother to Pakistan in around 1967-68 and his mother died there and therefore his story has not been believedNevertheless the undisputed fact is that he came to India around 1989-90 on a passport of Pakistan and did not renew his visa due to lack of education and subsequently got married here it saidIn Meerut he was doing menial jobs and residing there along with his family who all have Aadhaar cards issued by UIDAI the plea saidInitially Qamar filed a plea before the Delhi High Court in 2017 praying for his release so that he can stay with his familyDuring arguments his counsel had submitted that Qamar would apply for Indian citizenship in accordance with law and also make a representation to the respective authorities giving particulars of all the family members who would stand security in case he is released from the detention centreThe High Court in its order dated March 9 2017 disposed of his plea directing that his representation be considered as per lawQamars son as per the order of the High Court made a representation to civil authority on August 11 2017 under the provisions of the Foreigners Act to allow his father to reside with his family and take proper steps for registering him as an Indian citizen and also for getting proper medical treatment for his illnessThe plea said meanwhile with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the top court on April 13 2020 passed an order in the suo motu petition where it directed the Centre to release foreigner detainees who have been under detention for two years or more on certain terms on furnishing a bond in the sum of Rs 5000 with two sureties of the like sum of Indian citizensOnce again Qamar children moved the High Court seeking relief on the grounds of orders of the top court where the Centre submitted that it was prepared to take a humanitarian approach for releasing the father of the petitioners but Uttar Pradesh was not willing to do the sameIt had put on record UP governments reply which said that Qamar is divorced and therefore there is no justifiable ground for him to live in India and his release from the detention centre is not recommendedThereafter the High Court said that the petitioners should approach the top court for relief PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Feb 25 PTI The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea of BJP leaders against the Calcutta High Court directing the State Election Commissioner to examine the ground situation in each of the 108 West Bengal municipalities going to polls on February 27 and take a decision on deployment of central paramilitary forcesA bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant told senior advocate P S Patwalia appearing for BJP leaders Mousumi Roy and Pratap Banerjee Sorry We are not inclined to entertain this petitionPatwalia said that wide scale violence and irregularities were reported during previous phases of municipal elections and deployment of central forces will help in ensuring free and fair electionsHe said the high court had erred in asking the State Election Commissioner to examine the ground situation and take a call on deployment of central forcesPatwalia further contended that as the hearing is progressing in the top court he has received a communication saying that some additional forces will be deployed during the polls We have no problem with additional deployment of security forces but nowhere is it said that central forces will be deployed What is wrong in deployment of Central forces he saidThey are also distributing title deeds to the electors under a scheme during the model code of conduct and State Election Commissioner has allowed it Patwalia said adding that 52000 people have been given such deeds which cannot be allowedHe said Election will be held in Contai municipality which is situated in Nandigram district where Chief Minister lost the election Deployment of central forces will help us in safeguarding our ballot boxesHe referred to the top courts order passed during Tripura civil polls where directions were issued for deployment of central forcesSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said that like in Tripura civic polls it was asked on deployment of forces and the government is making it clear that it has no objection in deployment of central forces in WB civic pollsThe bench however did not agree with the submissions of Patwalia and Mehta and dismissed the pleaOn Thursday the BJP leaders had sought urgent listing of the plea saying that the Calcutta High Court had put the ball in SECs courtThe Calcutta High Court had on Wednesday said if the commissioner decides against deploying paramilitary forces then he will be personally liable to ensure that violence-free and fair elections take placeDirecting the Commissioner to collect information on conditions prevailing in municipalities where polls are scheduled the high court had asked him to hold a joint meeting with the home secretary and the DGP within 24 hoursIt had asked the commissioner to take a decision in writing by mentioning the relevant circumstances in support of his decision to deploynot to deploy the paramilitary forces in each of the 108 municipalitiesPraying for direction to the SEC to deploy paramilitary forces for the February 27 polls the petitioners before the high court had alleged that a state of terror is prevailing in various areas and in almost 10 per cent of the municipalities going for polls ruling Trinamool Congress candidates have won uncontested as nominations were not allowed to be filed by other contestantsOpposing the plea the State Election Commission SEC counsel had submitted before the court that its earlier direction of February 10 was complied with and assessment of ground situation to deploy paramilitary forces for the Bidhannagar elections as had been prayed for by the petitioner was done and no need for the same was foundHe had claimed that only stray incidents of violence had taken place during elections to four municipal corporations earlier this month and had also denied allegations of candidates being illegally prevented from filing nomination formsThe petitioners had also claimed that the SEC was acting in a partisan manner and that despite announcement of the poll dates acting against the Model Code of Conduct the state government was undertaking new schemes to woo votersThe high court had also asked the SEC to appoint observers for the municipal electionsHaving regard to the nature of allegations which have been made in this petition we are of the opinion that the Election Commission should appoint impartial officers of IAS cadre as observers it had directedThe court had further directed the SEC to take steps to install CCTV cameras at conspicuous spots in all the main and ancillary booths and preserve the footage Mauve paper seals should be used in all the ballot units it said PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Feb 22 PTI National Buildings Construction Corporation NBCC has assured the Supreme Court that the construction of stalled projects of Amrapali Group will be of good quality and independent experts will assess the safety and quality standardsThe assurance was given by the NBCC to a bench of Justices U U Lalit and Bela Trivedi after some Amrapali home buyers voiced their concern in the wake of poor quality work at a housing project in Gurugram where residents have been asked to vacate the buildingThe home buyers through advocate ML Lahoty sought the courts intervention in ensuring quality control of the work undertaken by NBCC in the Amrapali projectsSenior advocate Siddharth Dave appearing for the NBCC on Monday said the company was committed to maintaining the quality of work undertaken by it and the controversy over the Gurugram project should not be linked with Amrapali projectsHe said the company would never compromise with the quality of construction and it has hired -- NIT-Nagpur and NIT-Jalandhar-to examine the structural strength of the buildings Senior advocate N Venkataramani who has been appointed court receiver by the top court said that several home buyers have been sending him messages voicing their concern over the quality of construction in Amrapali Projects after the recent Gurugram incident Lahoty pointed out that there are around 650 home buyers of NBCCs Green View project in Gurugram who have received notices to vacate the building by this month endHe said a report of IIT-Delhi has found structural defects in the project and apprehension of Amrapali home buyers is genuine and should be addressed by asking the IIT-Delhi to conduct structural safety audit of the buildings under constructionDave said that these Amrapali projects are inherited and as soon as they have found defects experts are appointed and reports are awaitedWe dont want to put the safety of residents at risk Dave saidThe bench recorded the submissions of Dave in its order and said that the home buyers concern should be looked into by the NBCCThe NBCC had earlier told the top court that despite the COVID-19 pandemic it was making all efforts towards the successful completion of various projects of the Amrapali Group situated in Noida and Greater NoidaIt had said that at present 10 projects in Noida and 12 projects in Greater Noida are under execution involving 45957 units with a sanctioned project cost of Rs 802578 croreThe apex court in its July 23 2019 verdict had cracked the whip on errant builders for breaching the trust reposed by homebuyers and ordered the cancellation of the registration of the Amrapali Group under real estate law RERA and ousted it from prime properties in the NCR by nixing the land leasesFormer group directors of Amrapali-- Anil Kumar Sharma Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar are behind bars on the top courts orderThe apex court had directed a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into alleged money laundering by realtors providing relief to over 42000 home buyers of Amrapali Group with the verdictThe top court which is trying to bring in funds for the stalled projects had then directed the state-run NBCC to complete the stalled projects of the Amrapali Group PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Feb 18 PTI The Uttar Pradesh government Friday told the Supreme Court that it has withdrawn 274 recovery notices and proceedings initiated against anti-CAA protestors in 2019 for damages caused to public and private propertiesA bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said the state government will refund the entire amount worth crores of rupees recovered from the alleged protestors due to the proceedings initiated in 2019It granted liberty to the UP government to proceed against alleged anti-CAA protestors under the new law -- Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Act notified on August 31 2020The bench refused to accept the submission of Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad that the protestors and the state government be allowed to move the claim tribunal instead of directing refundsOn February 11 the top court had pulled up the UP government for acting on the recovery notices issued to the alleged anti-CAA protestors in December 2019 and gave one final opportunity to it to withdraw the proceedings and warned that it will quash the proceedings for being in violation of the lawIt had said that the proceedings initiated in December 2019 were contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court and cannot be sustainedThe apex court was hearing a plea filed by one Parwaiz Arif Titu seeking quashing of notices sent to alleged protestors by the district administration for recovering losses caused by damage to public properties during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act CAA agitations in UP and asked the state to respond to itThe plea has alleged that such notices have been sent in an arbitrary manner against a person who had died six years ago at the age of 94 and also to several others including two people who are aged above 90 PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Jan 25 PTI The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the government to invite suggestions from all stakeholders and experts concerned for a comprehensive response on upgradation of facilities for COVID-19 vaccination of disabled people A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjiv Khanna said the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment may carry out this exercise within three weeks and then place comprehensive suggestions and proposals which are received before the Ministry of Health and Family WelfareThe secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare MoHFW may upon taking a considered view on the suggestions formulated by Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment take appropriate decisions whether any modification or changes are required to make the existing pattern of vaccination for the disabled more effective so as to achieve the purpose the bench saidWe clarify that the setting up of this framework is not intended to be a reflection on the nature of the work which has already been carried out but intended to further bolster the effort for providing access to the people with disability for vaccination it added The apex court listed a PIL filed by an NGO Evara Foundation which sought proper vaccination facilities for the people with disability after four weeksAt the outset the bench noted that pursuant to the order of the court issuing notice a preliminary affidavit was initially filed by the Centre which was followed by a more comprehensive affidavit on January 13During the hearing advocate Pankaj Sinha appearing for the NGO submitted that the affidavit indicated that 23678 disabled people have been vaccinated and the figure is indicative of low rate of vaccination of the disabled peopleSinha said he had tried calling helpline numbers to ascertain its efficacy but it had resulted in no proper response and the person who answered the call was unaware of the provisions for vaccination for the disabled and one of the numbers was invalid He suggested that CoWIN software which is meant for registration for vaccination should have been certified for accessibility by the domain expertsAdditional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted that the figure of 23678 stated to be in the affidavit of the Centre comprises those people who had utilised their unique identity disability cards for availing of vaccinationShe said that as a matter of fact as many as nine IDs are acceptable for the purpose of vaccination of which disability card is one and hence the figure of 23678 would not take into account other disabled people who may have used an alternate form of identity for vaccinationBhati said that provisions were made initially for near-to-home vaccination centres but since November 2021 the Centre has launched the Har Ghar Dastak Abhiyan to ensure 100 per cent coverage of eligible beneficiaries of vaccinationShe added that with the provision of walk-in vaccination registration on COVID portal has become of subsidiary importance and as far as call centres and helpline numbers are concerned the staff working there are being duly trained by the state government so as to give proper responsesThe top court noted that the issue which has been raised by the NGO is not adversarial since it relates to augmenting the support facilities which would ensure that vaccination to the disabled is made available on a seamless basis without inconvenience and preferably at their door stepsIt said that individual suggestions have come before the court at the behest of counsel but it is of the view that instead of accepting ad hoc suggestions during the course of hearing it would be appropriate to devise a framework with the engagement of Ministry of social justice and empowerment particularly Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities The Centre had in its affidavit said that COVID-19 inoculation guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry do not envisage forcible vaccination without obtaining the consent of an individualIt had said that Indias vaccination programme is the largest in the world and 9084 per cent of the eligible adult population has received their first dose of the vaccine and 61 per cent has received their second dose as wellFurthermore a total of 23768 doses have been administered to disabled persons who have voluntarily chosen to be identified as such by using their Unique Disability ID CardDisability Certificate for registration at the time of their vaccination it has saidOn the issue of exempting persons with disabilities from producing vaccination certificates the Centre told the apex court that it has not issued any SOP that makes it mandatory to carry the vaccination certificate for any purposeIt is submitted that the direction and guidelines released by the Government of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare do not envisage any forcible vaccination without obtaining consent of the concerned individual It is submitted that vaccination for COVID-19 is of larger public interest in view of the ongoing pandemic situation the affidavit said PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Jan 20 PTI Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it upheld 27 per cent Other Backward Classes OBC reservation in All India Quota AIQ seats in the NEET for UG and PG medical courses Justifying allowing quota for Economically Weaker Sections EWS on existing quota for current academic year the bench said We are still in the midst of the pandemic and any delay in the recruitment of doctors would impact the ability to manage the pandemic Hence it is necessary to avoid any further delays in the admission process and allow counselling to begin immediately A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna passed order detailing reasons for upholding the 27 per cent OBC reservation and allowing 10 per cent EWS quota on existing criteria for this year In view of the discussion above we hold that the reservation for OBC candidates in the AIQ seats for UG and PG medical and dental courses is constitutionally valid the bench said Dealing with the validity of OBC quota the bench said Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity Competitive examinations assess basic current competency to allocate educational resources but are not reflective of excellence capabilities and potential of an individual which are also shaped by lived experiences subsequent training and individual character The top court said that crucially open competitive examinations do not reflect the social economic and cultural advantage that accrues to certain classes and contributes to their success in such exams High scores in an examination are not a proxy for merit Merit should be socially contextualized and re-conceptualized as an instrument that advances social goods like equality that we as a society value In such a context reservation is not at odds with merit but furthers its distributive consequences the bench said On the EWS quota the top court said the argument of the petitioners on the validity of quota was not limited to the permissibility of reservation in the AIQ seats Rather the petitioners challenged the very criteria for the determination of the EWS which would not only require us to hear the matter at length but would also entail us to hear all interested parties However in view of the delay in the counselling process due to the pendency of this petition we deem it necessary to allow the counselling session to begin with the existing criteria for the identification of the EWS category the bench said It added that judicial propriety would not permit us to pass an interim order staying the criteria for determination of the EWS category It is a settled principle of law that in matters involving challenge to the Constitutionality of legislation or a rule the Court must be wary to pass an interim order unless the Court is convinced that the rules are prima facie arbitrary it added The bench said As a result we allow the implementation of EWS reservation in AIQ seats in NEET UG and PG seats for the academic year of 2021-2022 The EWS category shall be identified in view of the criteria in Office Memorandum of 20190 The challenge to the validity of the criteria determined by the Pandey committee for the identification of the EWS category shall be listed for final hearing in the third week of March 2022 On January 7 the top court had paved the way for starting the stalled NEET-PG 2021 counselling process based on the existing 27 per cent OBC and 10 per cent EWS reservations in the All India Quota seats saying there is an urgent need to begin the admission process The Centre had constituted a three-member committee comprising Ajay Bhushan Pandey former finance secretary VK Malhotra member secretary ICSSR and Sanjeev Sanyal Principal Economic Adviser to Centre on November 30 last year according to an assurance given to the top court to revisit the criteria for determining EWS The committee in its report submitted on December 31 last year to the Centre said The current gross annual family income limit for EWS of Rs 8 lakh or less may be retained In other words only those families whose annual income is up to Rs 8 lakh would be eligible to get the benefit of EWS reservation The Centre has said it has decided to accept the recommendations of the panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for defining EWS at Rs 8 lakh or less PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Jan 18 PTI Pregnant and lactating women are informed about the risks of COVID-19 during pregnancy as also the benefits and likely side effects of the vaccination as per the advisory and Standard Operating Procedures SOP the Centre has told the Supreme CourtIn its affidavit the Centre has said that the guidelines issued for monitoring of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccine allows for reporting of any suspected adverse event irrespective of the time interval between the day of vaccination and the day of onset of symptomsAs per the advisory and SOP issued dated July 2 2021 once a woman declares herself as pregnant lactating woman the vaccinator provides them with information about the risks of COVID-19 infection in pregnancy the benefits of vaccination along with the likely side effects of vaccinationThus all pregnant womenlactating mothers who avail COVID-19 vaccination are made aware of the likely side-effects of the vaccination the affidavit saidThe Union ministry of Health and Family Welfare MoHFW has filed the affidavit on a plea filed by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights DCPCR seeking direction to the Centre to declare pregnant as well as lactating women as high-risk category to be given priority for COVID-19 vaccinationIt said that if pregnant women decide to get vaccinated the vaccinator marks them as pregnant womanlactating mothers on the CoWIN platform and thus a list of all those women receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is maintained in the databaseOn the petitioners suggestion regarding tracking of Adverse Event Following Immunisation AEFI in hospitals and creating mechanisms for self-reporting through CoWIN or other platforms the Centre said that the current AEFI surveillance system is adequately empowered to handle suspected AEFI related to COVID-19 vaccinationThe AEFI surveillance system collects data of all adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries including pregnant womenlactating mothers The system is time-tested and well equipped to handle adverse effects of vaccination on pregnant womenlactating mothers it saidThe Centre said that under the AEFI surveillance system the District Immunization Officers DIOs have been instructed to set up a network with private hospitals to report adverse events following immunization through Case Reporting Formats as soon as they are informed of any AEFIsThe DIOs also investigate the case and submit reports Training has been given to State Officers and Instructions for training of all medical officers private practitioners and front line health workers on their role in AEFI surveillance related to COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant womenlactating mothers were issued it saidOn the suggestion of medical treatment for pregnant and lactating women who suffer from AEFIs the Centre said it is being provided free of cost to beneficiaries who suffer AEFIs in all government health institutionsStates and UTs have been asked to identify at least one AEFI management Centre in each block State and district authorities DIOCMO or the Block MO have been asked to proactively reach out to all health care service providers such as medical hospitals public autonomous and private and individual practitioners and sensitize them to report any adverse event following COVID-19 vaccine as per guidelines the centre saidIt added that MoHFW has established a patient to doctor telemedicine platform and accordingly a National Telemedicine Service by the name of eSanjeevaniOPD was rolled out nationally by the ministry in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic On September 20 last year the top court had agreed to hear a plea of DCPCR and sought a response from the CentreThe government said that till now 6356743 consultations have been effected on eSanjeevaniOPD which is citizen friendly safe medium to seek health services by citizens in the confines of their homesOn December 3 last year the top court had asked the DCPCR to forward its suggestions if any to the Centre and if required it will incorporate it in the national COVID-19 vaccination programmeAdvocate Vrinda Grover for the DCPCR had earlier submitted before the court that there is a need to declare women in these conditions as high-risk categories and since people are dealing with a virus which they do not know much about there is a need to conduct continuous research on the effects of vaccination on themThere is also a need to create a platform for registry of pregnant and lactating mothers for proper monitoring she said PTI MNL SA

New Delhi Jan 18 PTI The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre to explain why despite its orders the intake of women candidates in National Defence Academy NDA for year 2022 has been restricted to 19 the figure same as last yearIt asked the Centre to place the figures on record about the total number of candidates including women who have appeared in the NDA examination 2021 for entrance tests for Rashtriya Indian Military College RIMC and for Rashtriya Military School RMSA bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the Centre that the government will have to explain why the figure of 19 women has been fixed for year 2022 as per the notification issued by UPSCThe figure is the same as for the 2021 test Last year you said that it was due to infrastructure problems that the intake of women will be less Now again for the year 2022 you have proposed to take the same number of women candidates Why have you fixed this figure You have to explain this 19 seats cannot be for all times to come It was only an ad hoc measure the bench said The top court gave three weeks to the Centre to file affidavit and asked the parties to file their rejoinder in two weeks thereafter and listed the matter for further hearing on March 6At the outset senior advocate Chinmoy Pradip Sharma appearing for petitioner Kush Kalra said they have filed an additional affidavit stating that on November 14 2021 the NDA exam was held and 8009 candidates qualified for the Service Selection Board test as also medical tests out of which 1002 candidates were women and 7007 menHe said that as per the information made available in the advertisement issued by UPSC and by the government NDA will take in 400 cadets in the current NDA-II 2021 intakeOf these 208 candidates including 10 women will go to the Army The Navy will take in 42 candidates including 3 women while the IAF will admit 120 candidates of which 6 will be women Thus the total number of women to be inducted into the NDA in June 2022 is 19 Sharma saidHe added that surprisingly in the examination notice dated December 22 2021 issued by UPSC for the NDA-I 2022 examination to be held on April 10 2022 induction on January 2 2023 out of a total of 400 vacancies the number of vacancies for women is shown as Army - 208 including10 for female candidates Navy 42 including 03 for female candidates and Indian Air Force Flying - 92 including 02 for female candidates Ground Duties Tech - 18 including 02 for female candidates and Ground Duties Non-Tech - 10 including 02 for female candidatesSharma said that it can be seen from the reading of the Examination Notice December 22 2021 that the number of women candidates to be inducted in January 2023 continues to remain at 19He said that in the affidavit dated September 20 2021 filed by the Centre it has been categorically stated that necessary steps will be in place by May of this year itself 2022Furthermore for the first time it is mentioned that the intake in the Naval Academy is for 30 male candidates only The said restriction is arbitrary he saidSharma added that therefore to continue to keep the number of intake of female candidates at only 19 even for the next year that is for 2023 and only allowing male candidates in naval entry as per the Examination Notice dated December 22 2021 is not only arbitrary and violative of Article 14 15 16 and 19 of Constitution of India but also is contrary to the stand taken by the Centre before the courtBhati said that intake of female candidates in the NDA and other institutions do not only depend on infrastructure but on several other reasons including the requirement of defence forcesThe court may allow us sometime to file a detailed affidavit in the matter and we will try to put forth the reasons behind the number of intake of women candidates she saidThe bench said it understands that not all fields are open for women candidates in defence forces and there will not be an equal number of men and women as of now but it will take timeOn September 22 last year in a first the top court had permitted female candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the NDA which was to be held in November last year saying their induction cannot be postponed by one year as sought by the CentreThe Centre had submitted that a study group has been formed to facilitate the entry of women and the necessary mechanism to facilitate that can be put in place by May 2022On October 7 last year the top court had permitted female candidates to appear in the examination for Rashtriya Indian Military College RIMC in Dehradun scheduled to be held on December 18 last year saying the Centre has walked a mile and should walk a step ahead PTI MNL SA