2 weeks left, medical admissions yet to start

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 14

Over two months after the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) was declared on June 5, Punjab is yet to conduct first round of counselling to fill 2,373 MBBS and BDS seats in eight medical and 15 dental colleges in the state even as the process has to be completed in a little over two weeks. 

The delay has been on account of petitions filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court. The Medical Council of India deadline for starting classes for new students is August 1.

Controversies erupted after the government notified its admission eligibility criteria on June 6, following which one after another, several petitions were filed in court.

On August 10, the Punjab Government filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order allowing reservation for sportspersons and children or grandchildren of Sikh riot victims in private medical colleges for the MBBS course. The High Court had also increased the quota for sportspersons from 1 to 3 per cent.

As Punjab’s appeal is pending for hearing on August 19, over 8,000 NEET-qualified students in the state are in a state of confusion whether Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), nodal agency for admissions, would be able to complete the process by August 31.

DK Tiwari, Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Research, said the admission process would be completed before the MCI deadline. “I am in touch with the BFUHS Vice-Chancellor and also the Supreme Court lawyers to ensure the admissions are done before August 31.”