Changing of MCI rules midway stumps students

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thousands of PG medical seat aspirants across the country have been caught off guard by the Medical Council of India (MCI) as it has changed in the midway the eligibility conditions for candidates seeking admission to all-India quota seats in the second phase of the allotment, scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

Aghast at the MCI’s lastminute changes, several students have taken up the issue at social media platforms and have also tried to approach the MCI. But they said they haven’t received any clarification over the unexpected turn of events.

The MCI, in the FAQ published on the PG medical/dental admission for 2018, had clearly stated that those candidates who did not join the institutes, where they were allotted seats in the first phase of allotment or those who quit the institutions after joining for the course before the second phase allotment, will not be eligible for submitting options for the second round of all-India allotment. However, in its revised FAQ, published on April 9 for the second allotment, the MCI has clarified that candidates belonging to the two categories mentioned above would also be eligible for participating in the second phase allotment.

“The changes announced by MCI has come as a real shocker. Candidates have followed the original set of guidelines announced ahead of the first phase allotment. Now, with the MCI changing the rules in the midway, many eligible students would lose opportunities, despite having fared well in the entrance,” said one of the students. The impact of change in rule is expected to be even bigger with several students who secured higher ranks in the all-India medical examinations rumoured to have been engaged in the clandestine practice of blocking their all-India quota seats, which they would never occupy.

As they block but do not occupy the seats allotted to them in a particular state, such unoccupied seats would later get added to the state quota. Such murky operations would help students with lower ranks in the all-India entrance get seats by virtue of the concocted merit they enjoy for being the resident of a particular state.