Vijayawada, April 26: The first day of counselling for post-graduate (PG) medical degree and diploma courses at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) was delayed by more than three hours as the authorities objected to the presence of assistant professor from Osmania University sent by the chi e f minister’s office to observe the process.
The trouble started when Prof. B Babu Rao of O s m a n i a University tried to enter the counselling room with a letter from K Raju, principal secretary in the chief minister’s office, to study how the UHS was implementing the roster system of admissions.
The letter was signed by Raju on April 24. UHS authorities saw him as an interloper, but Babu Rao flashed his letter and said he was authorised by the CMO. An argument ensued and Babu Rao threatened to file an SC/ST atrocity case against the UHS mandarins.
At last, tempers cooled and university officials allowed him to sit in on the proceedings but told him to mind his business.
Registrar T Venugopala Rao said the UHS wrote to the government seeking a clarification and stating there was no need to coopt an additional member into the selection committee as it was being chaired by the director of medical education himself.
They got no clarification and so decided to allow Prof Babu Rao to sit in until such time as they got clarity.
Prof Babu Rao said that reserved-category candidates were being denied justice in the existing roster system being observed by UHS. When a reserved category candidate got a seat in the open category on merit, the university authorities were not providing the reservation as per the roster system. They were being allocated seats at the end of the roster process, which meant they had a pick of only leftover seats, which tend to be in disciplines with no demand.
He said that as per his brief, he would see the implementation of the roster system and submit a report to the government. If necessary he would go to court, he said. He cited a High Court judgement of 2005 asking the university to offer seats to reserved candidates in the reverse roster system of 100 roster points.
The UHS follows a roster system as per GO 74 and offers seats to merit candidates according to roster points. After completion of 100 roster points they come to roster point one. For example, in the present PG medical counselling, roster point one is reserved for Other Categories (OC) by which which an OC candidate stands to get a PG seat anywhere in the three regions of the state, including the Andhra, Osmania and Sri Venkateswara University areas plus one statewide seat in the Sidhartha Medical College, Vijayawada.
Likewise, roster point two was reserved for SC (women) and point three was reserved for OC (women).
Thus are PG medical seats filled as per the merit and roster systems.
–Agencies