Doctors body demands employment reservation for Tamil medium students

CHENNAI: Doctors associations in Tamil Nadu appeal to the State government to provide 20 percent reservation in government jobs for doctors who have studied in Tamil medium schools. The government doctors also demand that government aided school students should be given separate internal reservation in vocational colleges including medical courses.

The members of the Doctors Association for Social Equality say that there is a misconception that Tamil medium medical students will not get job opportunities and 20 percent reservation will break this myth. It will also help to prevent people from other states from getting job opportunities in the Tamil Nadu government hospitals.

Dr G R Ravindranath, secretary of the association said that the students who study in Tamil medium schools are mostly from government schools and very often economically backward. Therefore, this reservation for Tamil medium students will help these students with employment. The 20 percent reservation should be given to those who studied in Tamil medium from 1st to 12th standard.

He added that the government doctors who served during the pandemic should be given extra incentive marks in the MRB exam. Additionally, the non-service PG aspirants, who are not in government service, have been able to get very few seats in the past few years and Tamil Nadu government should take appropriate steps to ensure that adequate opportunities are available for the doctors in the State.

The PG students are constantly subjected to long hours of work that affects them physically and mentally and government should see that they don't work more than 8 hours.

Talking about the National Family Health Survey, he said that it has been decided to not collect the data on anemia, one of the indicators on women and children's health. As of 2021, 57 percent of women and 67 percent of children in India are anaemic and the data will help in better implementation of healthcare policies.