Law dept to take call on dental, medical admissions

In a meeting between officials from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell, the matter of centralised admissions has been referred to the law and judiciary department, which will take a final decision

Students waiting for admissions to private and deemed medical and dental institutes in the state will have to wait longer. In a meeting between officials from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell, the matter of centralised admissions has been referred to the law and judiciary department, which will take a final decision.

The health ministry, in a circular dated August 9, had suggested that admissions to these institutes could be conducted through a centralised process to save time. The state government sought the expertise of the law department for a clear understanding of the rules and regulations in place. Until last year, admissions to these institutes were conducted on the basis of different entrance tests, which had to be changed after the Supreme Court in April 2016 made National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) the single window score for admissions to all medical and dental institutes.

“We want the stand to be clear not just for this year but for the upcoming years as well, so we have decided to wait for a day or two and see what the law department’s clearance on combined admissions. Only once we get the green signal from them can we release the rules of admission and the schedule,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, director of DMER.

HT previously reported about the uncertainty surrounding admissions to 3,395 — medical as well as dental — seats under private and deemed institutes in the state. While admission to government-run institutes is almost over on the basis of MH-CET scores, the Supreme Court order states that private and deemed institutes can conduct admission only on the basis of NEET scores.

“We can easily start admissions to private institutes right away, but the aim is to start the process for all remaining seats together. If the law department does not clear this situation for us in the next couple of days, we will go ahead and announce admission schedule for private institutes,” added Shingare. There are 1,720 and 1,675 seats available for allotment under private and deemed institutes respectively.