A day after the revision of Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET) merit list on court orders, the counselling for admission to the MBBS and BDS courses has begun in the state, finally.
The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, issued a public notice on Sunday, asking qualified candidates to submit college preference online by August 13. It will allot the seats between August 16 and 17, as the Punjab and Haryana high court directed on Friday.
Read more | After HC order, major shuffle in PMET merit list, top 3 slots unchanged
The candidates and their parents remain confused even after a month of legal battle that held up the admission process, even as experts say the revision will affect only the borderline college allotment cases. Dr Parmod Chug, father of a Fazilka petitioner, Garima, has asked the university to upload the revised answer keys to four questions that were corrected. “The high court’s stand on the answer to one of the questions in set 2 (190) was different from the university’s original key,” he said.
“The orders say on paragraph 109 that the university must correct the answer keys before passing on the benefit of four invalid questions to the candidates. It has declared results post corrections but we still await the revised key,” Dr Chug said, threatening to file a court appeal by Wednesday, if required. Responding to him, university counsel Anupam Gupta said: “The high court order says on paragraph 105 that the four corrected questions be restored based on the original answer key.”
{{/usCountry}}“The orders say on paragraph 109 that the university must correct the answer keys before passing on the benefit of four invalid questions to the candidates. It has declared results post corrections but we still await the revised key,” Dr Chug said, threatening to file a court appeal by Wednesday, if required. Responding to him, university counsel Anupam Gupta said: “The high court order says on paragraph 105 that the four corrected questions be restored based on the original answer key.”
{{/usCountry}}Top ranks to be ‘unaffected’
The rankings have deviated 5 to 10% after the revision of merit list. Chandigarh-based PMT trainer Arvind Goyal said the first 200-to-250 ranks were likely to stay but the spots beyond will move 20-to-30 positions and affect college allotment.
“In borderline cases, the shift may mean gaining or losing a seat in a government college,” Goyal said. For example, candidate Pushpreet’s order of merit changed from 331 to 346, while candidate Jyotsana jumped from 459 to 407. Candidate Varun Gupta slipped from 763 to 823. Experts advise the university to declare subject-wise marks for transparency.
Candidates free to change preferences
The candidates who submitted preferences last month can change the choice in the latest round of counselling, since new colleges have been added. The Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences and Guru Ravi Das Institute of Medical Science, Amritsar are new entrants.