New Delhi, Aug. 12 (ANI): Lok Sabha member Takam Sanjoy has requested Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry Ghulam Nabi Azad to release medical seats under the central pool quota (CPQ) in the interest of students of the northeast region.

In a letter to Azad, Sanjoy Wednesday lamented that various states, especially in the north-east, have not been able to allocate medical seats to the students 'due to non-release of the MBBS/BDS seats from the CPQ for the 2012-13 academic year.'

The colleges have already started their classes and further delay in releasing the seats would hamper the interest of the students, Sanjoy said.

In August last year, following a meeting with a delegation of the region's MPs' Forum (NEMPF), Azad had directed the union health secretary Chandra Mouly to make an appropriate decision to convey to the Delhi University (DU) authorities to allow the students of 12 states including the NE states against the central pool MBBS/BDS seats.

Sanjoy along with Mizoram MP C L Ruala and Nagaland RS member C M Chang later met the union health secretary and apprised him of the 'lackadaisical approach' of the DU, the Medical Council of India and the union health ministry in challenging the writ petition (No 4292/2011) seeking for doing away with the central pool MBBS/BDS quota allotted to some special category states including Arunachal Pradesh and other Northeastern states.

The Delhi High Court had, however, subsequently passed an interim order to release the seats pending final disposal of the case.

The delay is contrary to the decision of government of India to support all the states, which does have institutes of higher learning to provide adequate support so that the students of those stats are not deprived of scopes for higher education.

When Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself represents Assam in the Parliament, there could not be a better representative in the government to remove such avoidable hurdle in the greater welfare of the under developed north-east region.(ANI)