Protest mars fresh RGUHS counselling
Candidates allege ambiguity in seat matrix, demand clarity
The fresh counselling conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) for in-service and entrance quota candidates for admission to postgraduate medical courses for the academic year 2011-12 hit a roadblock on Saturday as angry students protested against lack of clarity over the seat matrix.
The recounselling, ordered by the High Court on Thursday reinstating the nine top-ranked candidates whose results were annulled on the charge of malpractice, was held only for physically-challenged candidates and a few categories of in-service aspirants.
The seat selection process for entrance quota candidates, scheduled to start at 3 pm, could not take off as students staged a protest against the alleged discrepancies in the number of available seats.
Admitting to the ambiguity in the seat matrix, D Prem Kumar, Registrar, said that the university was “setting it straight”. The counselling will resume at 8 am on Sunday with in-service candidates from the Department of Health selecting their seats first.
Afterwards, entrance quota candidates, as per their ranks, will choose the seats, Kumar told Deccan Herald. The previous counselling on April 10, 2011 was also “rescheduled” when students staged a similar protest over the seat matrix.
Candidates of entrance and in-service quotas unanimously demanded an unambiguous seat matrix. “Let the authorities reveal the number of seats reserved for the candidates of management quota, the COMED-K and the RGUHS respectively,” one of the in-service candidates, who preferred anonymity, said.
The RGUHS has added 45 seats to the matrix after the High Court annulled the previous counselling. Half of these seats were to be given to in-service candidates and the rest to aspirants under the entrance quota.
The in-service candidates alleged that seats in clinical courses had been cut. Instead, seats in non-surgical disciplines like anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry which are of no use to the in-service candidates, were increased, they said.
“It is clear the government wants us to chose non-clinical streams. Hence, seats in such disciplines have been increased so that they can be blocked this way,” another in-service candidate, who also preferred anonymity, said.
Discrepancies
According to Lokesh Murthy, an advocate representing an in-service candidate, there are a lot of discrepancies in the admission procedure, unlike the All India medical counselling conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
He added that there was no need for re-counselling for in-service candidates as the top-ranked students accused of malpractice come under the entrance quota.
The radiology stream is the most sought-after discipline whereas streams like orthopedics, pediatrics, and general medicine are also in demand. Dr Savitha, one of the candidates, said: “It is a case of personal interest. Usually, male candidates prefer surgical streams whereas female candidates aspire for gynaecology.”
The rescheduling of RGUHS counselling may affect the COMED-K counselling scheduled for May 30 and 31.
