Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Feb 17: Constant delay in counseling by the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) has put the future of hundreds of aspirants for MBBS from J&K who qualified NEET last year in jeopardy.
According to sources, the selected candidates of MBBS for session 2021 have already lost about nine months of studies due to the delay in holding the NEET test in time owing to COVID pandemic. The test, which otherwise was scheduled to be held in the month of April or May had been postponed to September 2021. However, the result was further delayed and it was announced in November last year.
The aspiring students from J&K who were eagerly waiting for counseling since November are totally disgusted as the BOPEE in the UT is adopting delaying tactics in this regard and putting the future of the candidates in jeopardy, sources said, adding that while other States in the country have since started the counseling of first round and are preparing for second and third rounds besides going ahead with admission process for fresh batches of MBBS in their respective Medical Colleges, no headway has been made by the BOPEE of J&K in this regard till date.
Sources said the constant delay in counseling has generated a lot of resentment among the candidates and their parents all over the UT and the parents of the candidates have accused the BOPEE authorities of playing with the career of their brilliant children.
The parents of the aggrieved candidates said that by not conducting the written test in time by NEET due to COVID pandemic, the students have already lost over nine months of the academic year and it is not understood how the students can cover the vast syllabus of the first year MBBS as they will be put to lot of pressure under these circumstances.
It may be recalled that an official communication of National Medical Commission (NMC) has stated that academic session for MBBS for 2021 will begin in February 2022 and conclude in June 2027 including the compulsory internship. But in J&K even after middle of February no headway has been made in conducting the counseling of the candidates nor any official notification has been issued in this regard till date which indicates that the classes of fresh batches of MBBS can miss the deadline of February 2022 in UT of J&K as notified by NMC, sources said.
Sources said that it has happened for the first time in last many years when the counseling for MBBS has been delayed by the BOPEE for reasons best known to the authorities at the helm of affairs. However, the delaying tactics has given the sleepless nights to over one thousand candidates from J&K who have qualified the NEET last year and were waiting for the counseling to get the allotment of the colleges, sources added.
They said when the examination was constantly delayed last year by the NEET due to unavoidable circumstances created by pandemic but the delaying tactics of BOPEE in conducting the counseling along with other Medical Colleges of rest of the country has been cause of concern both for candidates and their parents as it has complicated the situation further for these aspiratns.
Sources said a medical student’s career being very hectic as he or she needs 12 to 13 years from MBBS to DM or MCH to become a specialist. But by constantly delaying the admission in MBBS the precious period of a candidate’s life gets wasted in this way for which no body is ready to share the responsibility in the Government as the authorities only pass bucks on each other instead of sharing responsibility for lapses.
Sources, while citing the example of other States of country which have since started counseling to start admission as per the guidelines of NMC said Uttrakhand State has started first round of counseling in January this year and has fixed the last date for joining of classes February 7 this year.
The HP Atal Medical and Research University has also completed admission to MBBS students in first round of counseling in the first week of this month while Karnataka Examination Authority has too started admission to first batch during this month after completing the first round of counseling. Moreover, Baba Farid University Faridkot Punjab has also held first round online counseling last month to start the first batch by first week of February, sources said, adding BOPEE J&K much to the discomfiture of the hapless candidates is however lagging in starting the exercise.
When contacted, Secretary BOPEE, Sunil Gupta while admitting that there has been delay in counseling for admission to MBBS students in the UT of J&K said that the papers in this regard have been sent to Chairman BOPEE who is outside the UT and after his return, the process will start.
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