The Punjab Government on Thursday urged the Central Government to relax MBBS admission criteria for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category students so that 71 vacant seats under the quota could be filled.
The State Government has also asked the Centre to lower admission cut off marks from 40 per cent to 30 per cent required for SC students to get admission in medical colleges of the State.“Punjab Government has written to the Centre in this regard on the recommendation of the Punjab SC Commission,” said Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission chairman Rajesh Bagha.
He said that it has come to the Commission’s notice that 71 seats of SC quota are still vacant, which could have not been filled due to strict admission norms of the Union Government. “Many SC organisations have also given representations in this regard to the Commission,” he added. Bagha further said that the Central Government has also been requested to lower the MBBS admission cut off limit for the SC students from the present 40 per cent marks to 30 per cent.
“This relaxation could also be provided as per the Punjab Government’s notification dated July 2014…In the session 2013-2014, the SC quota seats are filled lowering the admission cut off marks limit to 26 per cent,” he added.