The state government will take a call on whether it will allow Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College (SGRD), Amritsar, to convert all 75 government-quota MBBS seats into management quota on Tuesday. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)-run institute has 150 seats, with 75 in the government (general) quota and 75 in the management/minority quota. The fee for minority/management quota is around Rs 40 lakh. This is about four times the cost (around Rs 10 lakh) of a seat in the government quota.
On Tuesday, additional chief secretary, higher education, SK Sandhu, will hold a meeting on the issue with officials from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, the nodal agency for NEET counselling, and the SGRD.
Tuesday is also the last day for candidates to register themselves online for admission in medical and dental courses. Counselling is scheduled for July 17. Till now, 8,000 applications have been received.
“The decision needs to be taken as early as possible so that students are clear on the status of the seats in the SGRD,” a senior BFUHS official said.
If the SGRD is allowed to scrap the government (general) quota), those having no reservation or those who are not in the NRI quota will not get admission at the institute. Already, 75 seats in the government quota had 12 seats reserved for NRIs. Of the 63 seats left, 25 are reserved for Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Handicapped. So, a general category student was fighting for only 38 of 150 seats at the institute. These seats will also go, if the government quota is scrapped.
The management quota also has 12 seats reserved for NRIs.
BFUHS HAD DENIED NOD
BFUHS has maintained that the SGRD is yet to get status of a medical university and thus seats in government quota can’t be scrapped. On July 1, the institute had moved the BFUHS, asking for its nod. This was even as it announced the conversion of its government quota MBBS seats into management quota.
“If the SGRD is allowed to scrap seats, those candidates who could have been admitted under the government quota on merit will be deprived of the same. A lower-ranked candidate will get in as he can afford the higher fee,” a BFUHS official.
[“source-hindustantimes”]
