Legal tangle puts fate of thousands of med,engr, nursing aspirants in limbo

Kolkata: An alarm bell is ringing in academic circles of Bengal as the future of around 11,000 medical and over 35,000 engineering aspirants in the state, besides those in nursing (BSC, GNM, ANM), polytechnic, bachelor of veterinary science and animal husbandry (B.V. SC & A.H), B. Pharm and general degree courses in state-aided colleges are in limbo over the legal imbroglio concerning Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota.

An unprecedented logjam has been created with thousands of students at the receiving end. The Calcutta High Court had stayed the Bengal government’s notification mandating 17 per cent OBC quota. While the Supreme Court (SC) lifted the stay, a single-bench of the High Court in a JEE matter subsequently said the old OBC quota formula of 7 per cent would be applicable for admissions. The state has again moved SC, which is yet to hear the case.

The legal tangle over OBC reservations has stalled undergraduate admissions via the centralised portal. HS exam results were declared on May 7, while WBJEE results for engineering admissions are still awaited. MBBS and BDS counselling was abruptly suspended last Monday, two days before the first seat-allocation list.

Undergraduate medical classes nationwide begin on September 5. With 85 per cent of seats frozen, many fear Bengal may miss the NMC’s September 5 deadline for starting medical classes, though admissions to the 15 per cent all-India quota continue.

“It is our appeal to the state government to find a solution or the students will be thrown into a vicious cycle, and the health and education system may also collapse.

If the medical aspirants from Bengal take part in the second round of counselling at the national level and opt for MBBS courses outside, it will have a direct impact on health infrastructure here,” Dr AK Maity, an expert in the field of medical education in Bengal said. The OBC reservation issue has sparked a political tussle, with Mamata Banerjee accusing BJP and CPI(M) of blocking the Bill, while BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the High Court order. But parents fear the admission delays will hurt students far more than the politics.