Admissions in medical colleges: LHC reserves verdict in petitions challenging policy

The Lahore High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict in some identical petitions challenging central admission policy of the private medical colleges and restrained the private colleges from offering admissions and displaying merit lists. Earlier Ijaz Ahmad Awan representing the students submitted that the last date has been announced by the medical colleges to apply for admission.
University of Health Sciences (UHS) has also sought applications, the counsel said. He said the students are worried as to where they have to apply for admission. Private colleges' representative told the court that Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has barred them from new admissions while the rules made for admission had not been presented before the Council of Common Interest for debate on these rules.
The public medical colleges cannot accommodate all medical students, he said; pleading that therefore, the private colleges be allowed to offer admissions.
Noshab A Khan who was representing the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council said that existing laws have been implemented and all private and public colleges are bound to comply with the laws of the PMDC. According to the law, he said, private medical colleges are not allowed to sell their prospectus but it is very awful that the private medical colleges are involved in offering admissions to the students which is illegal and unjustifiable.
Such attitude of private colleges is ruining medical education and depriving many eligible students from getting admission, the counsel said. It was the reason that central induction policy was introduced under which UHS was given powers to allow colleges for admission in medical colleges, he said.
He also submitted that the UHS offered merit-based admission in 34 medical colleges and fixed 15 per cent quota for overseas Pakistanis. He pleaded the court to bar the private medical colleges from offering admission in MBBS. The court after hearing both the sides reserved its verdict.