Madhya Pradesh: 856 Dental admissions cancelled by court instituted panel

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Jabalpur Bench nominated four member committee has recommended cancellation of admissions of more than 800 dental students, who have been given illegal admissions. These students have been granted admissions based on their class XII, results, instead of clearing the dental entrance exam.The committee issued the order last Friday

The committee’s decision was announced after the students challenged the Dental Council’s decision to cancel their admission on the grounds of not having appeared for the entrance examination.The Committee has already forwarded its decision to the Director, Medical Education.

The four member committee comprises of TR Thapak, Chairperson, Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee, Shashi Gandhi, Joint Director, Medical Education, and representatives of Jabalpur’s Medical University and DCI.

Of the 871 students granted admission in 2014, only 15 wrote the Dental and Medical Admission Test (DMAT), conducted by the Association of Private Dental and Medical Colleges (APDMC) of Madhya Pradesh and qualified, observed the committee.

“Following the court order, we scrutinized the admission of 871 students. Of the total, 856 admissions were found illegal. Now, the directorate is going to convey its decision to Deans of the colleges concerned,” Gandhi said. The committee issued the order last Friday.

Students, however, feel they have been at the receiving end of both the medical colleges, as well as, the Medical Education Department.

“I applied for the admission after seeing a piece of advertisement for direct admission to BDS course. All the documents were verified by the directorate of medical education of Madhya Pradesh government in 2014. I was also registered by Dental Council of India (DCI). How can I be held responsible if there was any irregularity?” a second year BDS student from Bhopal questioned

“I didn’t commit any fraud. I trusted a piece of advertisement coming from private dental colleges, like many others. None else than the directorate of medical education was involved in the process. But my future looks bleak now for none of my faults. Who will return my three years and my career to me?” he added.

The Dental Students Welfare Association of India (DSWAI) has even demanded action against authorities, who after verification of documents decided to give admissions.

“Like what happened in Vyapam scam, here too the sufferers are only students. If their admissions were not according to the rules, why did directorate of medical education allow the students to study and why did Dental Council of India (DCI) register them? In this entire episode not only 856 students but also 856 families are undergoing trauma,” said DSWAI, National Secretary, Jeetesh Tamrakar.

“We respect the court order but we will lodge our protest against the authorities whose fault caused injustice to students,” said Tamrakar, and as reported by HT.

The December 16 verdict of the High Court came one and a half years after the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict, declaring invalid all admissions of dental students, on the basis of Class 12 results .

After the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision, the DCI ordered the cancellation of admission of all the students of 2014-15 batch. However, Dental colleges in Madhya Pradesh moved the Jabalpur High Court, which allowed the students to appear in the first year exam.