‘Favour’ to 2 pvt medical colleges raises HC eyebrows

CHANDIGARH: Eyebrows are being raised over the Haryana Government’s move to plead the case of MM Medical Institute, Mullana, in the Supreme Court with a request to allow it to fill over 50 vacant seats after the college deliberately did not admit students by staying away from three consecutive counselling sessions held under the direction of the apex court.

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

Eyebrows are being raised over the Haryana Government’s move to plead the case of MM Medical Institute, Mullana, in the Supreme Court with a request to allow it to fill over 50 vacant seats after the college deliberately did not admit students by staying away from three consecutive counselling sessions held under the direction of the apex court.

The government’s role is already under the scanner before the Punjab and Haryana High Court for keeping yet another private medical college - SGT Medical College, Gurgaon, out of combined counselling. This college has filled its 100 seats ignoring the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).

The Supreme Court issued a directive on admission In August following which all medical colleges in the country, including deemed universities, were to admit students based on combined counselling by the states under the NEET.

At that time the Haryana Government ignored complaints by students and parents pointing out that MM Medical Institute, Mullana, was not participating in the counselling and was keeping the seats vacant so that these could be filled under the management quota for a heavy fee later.

Some students were admitted by the college after the third counselling but they were made to pay Rs 13.5 lakh as against Rs 7 lakh prescribed by the state.

The action of the government to bestow a special “favour” to these two private medical colleges of the state, violating a Supreme Court directive, has been questioned by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The government’s blatant support to these colleges to “sell” their vacant seats after they violated the Supreme Court’s directive as part of a “well-planned strategy” has been questioned by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the government to explain “the reasons which prevailed with the state to take such a decision (allowing it to skip the combined counselling), which prima facie is discriminatory”.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had issued guidelines for counseling for admission in undergraduate courses to medical colleges under the NEET as per the SC order during 2016-17 for combined counselling for admission to the MBBS/BDS courses in all medical and dental colleges and deemed university.

The Khattar Government made a strange interpretation of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare instructions and gave exemption to SGT Medical College on the ground that it comes under a “private university”, which is not specifically mentioned in the letter.

In the case of a similar petition in a case of Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court declared invalid all admissions made without combined counselling and directed the government to do all admissions again by centralised counselling

After the SC order, the Department of Medical Education and Research took up the matter with the CMO with a copy of the order suggesting cancellation of the admissions done by the Gurgaon college. However, the Khattar government ignored the SC verdict ‘interpreting’ the order relevant only for Madhya Pradesh.