Denied shot at seats at KGMU, MBBS students stage protest

LUCKNOW: Upset over being denied the chance to try for 65 additional MBBS seats at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Lucknow, MBBS students from different medical colleges of the state carried out a protest on Tuesday.

Raising their voice outside the telemedicine center of SGPGI, where a special allotment session for admission to those seats was scheduled, the students said it was unfair that they were being deprived of the opportunity thrown open to “less deserving candidates”.

As a result of the protest, admission process was delayed by five hours and could be restarted only after police intervention.

The students, who came along with their parents, were demanding cancellation of the allotment session, which denied admission to MBBS students but allowed those pursuing BDS, BAMS or BHMS a chance at studying at the prestigious university.

“This is a unique example of how things move in Uttar Pradesh. You cut chance of those who have scored high in entrance test and are deserving and pass it on to those who got relatively poor marks,” said an agitating parent.

The admission process that was to start at 10 am began after 3pm and continued till late in the night.

Earlier this year, the Medical Council of India (MCI) had disallowed KGMU to take admission in 65 of its 250 seats owing to poor infrastructure. The MCI’s direction was challenged by KGMU in the court and a decision on Thursday last allowed the medical varsity to grant admission on 65 MBBS seats and complete the process by September 30.

After the court directive, the director general of medical edu- cation (DGME) ruled that only the candidates who have taken admission in courses other than MBBS at state-run medical colleges could appear at the special admission/allotment procedure for the newly opened seats.

For BDS students, there was a rider that they will have to resign from their respective seats before appearing with original documents at the admission counter at PGI. BAMS and BHMS students did not have to follow this direction.