Agreed that COVID virus pandemic put most of the usual and normal activities under tremendous strains across the country, however, efforts were put in by the concerned authorities in every sector and field of activity to resiliently open up to gradually reach normal levels of activities. In this connection, we are at a loss to know the reasons of the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) of Jammu and Kashmir virtually not falling in line to attend to its commitments and thus cause delay in respect of starting its counselling activities. Such an uncalled for delay has the potential of having telling effects on the career of hundreds of aspirant candidates for the professional medical course of MBBS from the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. When the concerned counselling was expected to take place in the month of November last year itself which otherwise was stretched from the usual month of April or May to September 2021 and thereafter further delayed as regards the results, this aspect not having been weighed in perspective by the BOPEE, is both intriguing as well astonishing.
These candidates, needless to add, had already qualified NEET last year and for the session of 2021 itself, these candidates have lost precious nine months of studies and preparations and since the UT Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) is appearing to be adopting totally unresponsive and delaying approach , the future , at least one year of the course is feared to be badly affected and thus the career of these aspirants is feared to plunge in utter jeopardy. It is hard to comprehend as to which specific difficulties are encountered by the BOPEE when other states and the UTs in the country are reported to have already started the process of counselling and first round having reportedly been completed paving way for the second and the third rounds . Not only this, but the admission process for the fresh batches of the medical course in the respective Medical Colleges of these stateshas already started while Jammu and Kashmir, as on date, is far behind.Had the same level of delays been there uniformly across the country for whatever reasons, chances of which could, at the outset, be conceived to be bleak, most probably the tension and the apprehensions nursed by the affected aspirants from the UT would not have been there at all.
We do not need to draw the attention of the BOPEE authorities towards the commitment of the Central Government in respect of the purpose of opening more of the Medical Colleges across the country and as such in the UT too, increasing the number of seats and thus working vigorously to have more of Doctors and other medical professionals to tide over the ever increasing gap between the availability of and demand for Doctors. In that context , therefore, when on the one hand the UT Government of Jammu and Kashmir is otherwise embarking upon improving the medical infrastructure in the UT of which the core component is enhancing the number of trained medical professionals , why on the other hand, there should be such a slackening approach by the BOPEE . It is to be seen that the National Medical Commission has officially communicated that the academic session of MBBS 2021 is slated to be started by February 2022 and to be concluded by the year 2027 which includes compulsory internship , where do the UT aspirants stand in this context. Not only the candidates but even their parents are worried as well as feeling indignant looking to the hard work in studies the candidates having made which they naturally intend to put in regarding completing the course as a natural corollary.
It is not that BOPEE has admittedly been having such a lackadaisical approach in the sensitive matter as a routine . We note that it has happened for the first time and of this nature which, therefore, calls for starting the process of counselling forthwith in order that the session starting in the current month is joined by the UT candidates as soon as possible and the delay of a few weeks as expected is covered and made good by them in which the faculty of the concerned colleges must extend all possible help to them. What is , therefore, expected is an official communiqué in this regard issued at the earliest.
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