Notwithstanding the claim by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur that the PMET was conducted in a free and fair manner on the LPU campus, parents claim that the conduct of such an important exam at a private university with a large stake in education, made them uneasy.
“The claims by the BFUHS that it could find no other place where it could have accommodated 15,000 students are a slap on the face of the state government. There is no other state in the country that conducts such an important exam in such a causal manner. Did the university check the credentials of the private institute staffers before making them invigilators,” questioned a parent, Dr Prateek Walia.
Parents have also questioned the fact that invigilators in test rooms were from the LPU. Sources added that only the main observers were from the BFUHS staff and doctors from the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
Other sources, senior medical officials, claimed that the BFUHS chose LPU to give it free publicity as more than 50,000 people reached the venue in connection with the exam in which over 15,000 appeared. Parents also pointed out that even as the BFUHS claimed that the use of mobile phones and other electronic equipment was prohibited in and around the examination halls, a few invigilators were seen making calls on mobiles.
Two parents also sent pictures of two women invigilators using the phone to HT. “Everybody was going near the rooms where candidates were taking the exam, flashing their LPU I-cards. Even the gunmen of senior policemen whose wards were taking the exam had free access to the centre,” a parent said.
{{/usCountry}}Two parents also sent pictures of two women invigilators using the phone to HT. “Everybody was going near the rooms where candidates were taking the exam, flashing their LPU I-cards. Even the gunmen of senior policemen whose wards were taking the exam had free access to the centre,” a parent said.
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, the declaration of LPU as the sole test centre was also taken only three days back on BFUHS website. For a gathering of more than 15,000 students and around 20,000 parents, no special parking place had been demarcated and no traffic plan had been devised.