No notification on OBC quota, MDS admissions yet to start

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 9

Over delay on the issue of sub-classification within the non-creamy layer in the OBCs, BDS doctors seeking admission to MDS course in Haryana have been running from pillar to post.

The admission process to MDS courses in all other states has begun except for Haryana. Some students have been forced to book a seat in other states. Haryana has eight dental colleges awarding MDS degrees. Of these, MM University, Mullana, and Manav Rachna University are deemed universities and their admission process comes under the Union Government. The admission process in these two universities has begun with central counselling.

However, a major chunk of MDS seats are with six other institutes of Haryana, including the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak, where the admission process is yet to begin. “The apex court has asked Haryana to issue a notification within three months. As soon as it is issued, we will start admissions,” said Dr SS Lohchab, Dean, Academic Affairs, Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak.

The PGIMS, Rohtak, has 16 seats, JCD Vidyapeeth has eight, JN Kapoor DAV College, Yamunanagar, has 18, Sudha Rastogi Dental College, Faridabad, has 27 seats, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, has 46 seats and PDM University, Sarai Aurangabad, Bahadurgarh, has 24. Sources said between 800 and 1,000 BDS doctors, who have cleared the NEET-MDS test, normally appear for the counselling for 139 seats these six institutes offer.

“My daughter scored good rank in the test, but she has already booked a seat in another state. It will cause financial loss, but she prefers to shift to Haryana,” said a student’s mother from Hisar.

In August, the Supreme Court struck down the notification issued in 2016 that gave preference within the OBC non-creamy layer to persons having annual income up to Rs 3 lakh, and directed the state to issue a new one within three months. Advocate General, Haryana, Baldev Raj Mahajan said, “The deliberations are going on the issue.”