Medical varsity asks DCs to crosscheck EWS proofs
Amid allegations of several candidates using “dubious” Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates to get admission in MBBS course at three government medical colleges, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) today wrote to the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to verify the genuineness of documents issued to around 10 candidates.
On Saturday, The Tribune had highlighted the use of “dubious” EWS certificates by candidates to secure admission on the reserved MBBS seats. Three government medical colleges situated in Amritsar, Faridkot and Patiala offer 50 MBBS seats for the EWS candidates. Under this category, an unreserved category candidate’s family income must be less than Rs 8 lakh per annum. The EWS certificate is issued by the district administration after verification of annual income and landholding in the name of the parents of the candidate. Moreover, there’s 10 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutes since January 2019.
During the ongoing admission process, 149 candidates applied for 50 EWS reserved MBBS seats. After they failed to get admission on EWS reserved seats, 11 of these economically “poor” candidates joined private colleges on management and NRI quota by paying Rs 20 lakh per annum. While the fee for MBBS course under management quota ranges from Rs 58.02 lakh to Rs 63.94 lakh, it’s US$ 1.10 lakh for NRI quota seat.
One of the “dubious” candidate had changed his status from the EWS to NRI and got admission at Government Medical College, Amritsar, by paying US$ 1.10 lakh tuition fee.
Dr Rajeev Sood, Vice-Chancellor, BFUHS, said the university has sought verification report of EWS certificates of 11 candidates from the Deputy Commissioners concerned. They have been requested to submit the report within next 72 hours, said the VC.
