Medical institutes approach SC, Central govt for extension of admissions

A Dhule-based medical institute on Saturday approached the government of India as well as the Supreme Court for extension to complete admission to all their medical seats.

A Dhule-based medical institute on Saturday approached the government of India as well as the Supreme Court for extension to complete admission to all their medical seats. This institute has around 15 seats left vacant after admissions were declared over on September 30, as per an April order of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the state Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER) is conducting admissions to 350 seats that remain vacant in 10 deemed medical and dental institutes in Maharashtra, following another SC order from earlier this week.

The SC, earlier this week, rejected DMER’s proposal to extend admission deadline for private and government medical and dental institutes in the state till October 7, leaving the institutes with very little time to finish the process. (HT file photo)

“The SC, while regularising admissions already done in deemed institutes, made it clear that admission to the remaining seats will be conducted by state till October 7,” said Dr Pravin Shingare director, DMER. He added that apart from the Dhule-based institute, all other institutes have managed to fill up all their seats. “In case there are any seats still vacant, then the institute will have to wait for a final order from SC,” he added. The SC, earlier this week, rejected DMER’s proposal to extend admission deadline for private and government medical and dental institutes in the state till October 7, leaving the institutes with very little time to finish the process.

HT on Saturday had reported about DMER’s decision to order all private and government medical and dental institutes in the state to stay open for admissions till 11pm on September 30, in order to ensure that all seats are allotted. And while parents and students have rushed to all institutes across the state to confirm their admissions, many are still skeptical about more than just 15 seats remaining vacant in government and private institutes.

“My son had been allotted a seat in the dental course of a Latur-based institute which he cancelled on Friday evening to confirm a seat in a medical institute in Talegaon. I’m very sure that dental institute still has a seat left vacant, if not more,” said a parent on condition of anonymity. Many other parents have approached the state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell as well as DMER for clarity in this issue. “I know a staff of this Solhapur-based medical institute who confirmed that four seats there are vacant, but the institute refuses to acknowledge the same. This means they will now sell these seats at a much higher fee under the management quota, which is unfair,” said another parent.

With very little help coming from the state government in finding out the exact number of vacant seats at government and private institutes, some parents are also planning to take this matter back to the SC on Monday. “If the government can assure us that all vacant seats will come to our students only, then we will wait. Otherwise we are ready to drag these institutes back to court to fight for the right of our children,” said a parent.