PMET draws nearly 15,000 medical aspirants

Punjab: Close to 15,000 medical aspirants appeared for the PMET conducted on June 11, 2016. The test was held at 33 centres at 15 different locations in the state. PMET 2016 was held in two sessions in an online format for the first time. Candidates are now vying for the 1,200 MBBS and BDS seats. The medical seats are to be offered in 22 medical and dental colleges of Punjab by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot.

The exam was held in two shifts for 15,700 applicants. In the first shift there were 7,300 aspiring doctors and 7,400 in the second shift. The first batch of the PMET online exam was also allowed to upload the biology paper on WhatsApp.

The candidates have been allowed to raise objections on the question paper and answer keys by June 13. The results are to be announced on June 15. The counselling schedule is yet to be finalized.

"Total 14,600 students appeared in the entrance test and the result will be declared on June 15 after addressing the objections raised by students, if any," said BFUHS registrar Dr D S Sidhu to TOI.

BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur said to HT that the two sets of questions papers were from the same examiner to keep the level of difficulty uniform. In one of the centres, a few candidates uploaded some of the biology questions on WhatsApp for the benefit of the second shift coming in. “The next batch, though, had an entirely different set of questions. Moreover, it had checked into the examination centres already,” said the V-C. The university observers reported no problem in the other centres.

PMET was earlier scheduled on May 15, but post the SC verdict on Neet it was cancelled, to be later rescheduled after Neet ordinance by the Centre.

Punjab government will now conduct a separate exam to fill the 15% quota for NRIs. A separate entrance exam will be conducted for NRI admissions for medical courses in both government and private medical colleges.

Earlier the state medical education department had cancelled the exam for NRI admissions due to some legal issues. It had decided to grant admissions based on merit score in Class 12 or an equivalent examination with physics, chemistry and biology.

On Saturday, Dr Manjit Mohi, director of medical education and research, told HT that with minister Anil Joshi approving the decision, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) will soon be told to make arrangements and decide on the dates and exam centres.

When asked why NRIs were not considered for the Punjab Pre-Medical Entrance Test (PMET), Dr Mohi said delay in seeking legal opinion on the Centre’s ordinance took time.

As for the possibility of NRI-quota seats remaining vacant after the test, she said these would then be converted into general and other categories as per the already-set procedure.