After the intervention of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, on Monday decided to conduct the upcoming Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET) in two slots (morning and afternoon) to adjust all candidates within Punjab.
Read more: Punjab medical entrance test advanced by a day, now on June 11
The PMET, going online for the first time, was earlier planned in a single shift on June 11. Since the Punjab examination centres were short of computers on that date, new centres were created at Hisar, Kurukshetra, and Ambala in Haryana for candidates from Bathinda, Patiala, and SAS Nagar districts.
The candidates from Pathankot and Amritsar were accommodated in Jammu and Samba areas of Jammu and Kashmir, and a few from Chandigarh were asked to appear at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. As the list of the centres appeared on the university website on Saturday, the candidates required to appear in Haryana were concerned about their safety during the second round the Jat agitation for reservation. After many candidates approached the CM during his sangat darshan (public contact) programme in Muktsar on Sunday, he told the university to conduct the test within the state.
The revised plan requires a separate question-paper for each of the two sessions. “The revised list of allotted centres will be on our website by tomorrow (Tuesday),” said BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur.
{{/usCountry}}The revised plan requires a separate question-paper for each of the two sessions. “The revised list of allotted centres will be on our website by tomorrow (Tuesday),” said BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur.
{{/usCountry}}He said given the situation in Haryana, the parents’ concerns were genuine. “Also, since the number of candidates was too high, we had to plan two shifts. We are trying to allocate student the centres nearest to their home district. The reporting time for the second shift is 12.30pm,” said the V-C. The morning session is between 10am and 1pm and the evening session from 2pm to 5pm. Constant changes in this year’s PMET system has disturbed the focus of candidates. A parent, Rajiv Batra, said: “It was a horrible year for medical aspirants. First uncertainties over the conducting of the test and then over frequent changes in date. Now at eleventh hour, they have introduced two shifts. Hope nothing else changes now.”
“Both question papers should be of the same level,” said PMET trainer Arvind Goyal.