Merit list: Health dept to start pre-counselling of medical aspirants today

The state Health department will start conducting the pre-counselling of medical aspirants from Thursday in two phases at three state-run hospitals to publish the final merit list.

As the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was conducted throughout the country for the selection of successful candidates and no state-wise rank cards were given to the state by the Centre, the state Health department now has to prepare its own merit list on the basis of the national list of rank holders.

The state-wise list is likely to be published on July 19 on the basis of which all the medical admissions will be made both in the state-run medical colleges and the private ones.

The pre-counselling will be done at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and the SSKM Hospital in two phases, one in the morning the other in the afternoon.

It may be mentioned here that the overall number of medical seats has been reduced as the Medical Council of India (MCI) has debarred one private medical college from admitting candidates in Under-Graduate medical courses for two years while two other private medical college have also been asked not to admit candidates in MBBS course for one year.

The decision was taken as these medical colleges repeatedly failed to fulfill the minimum requisite infrastructure set by the highest regulating body.

The MCI has also slashed 50 seats each of two state-run medical colleges — Midnapore Medical College and Hospital and the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital due to poor infrastructure.

The MCI had earlier asked the Gouri Devi Institute of Medical Sciences & Hospital, Durgapur, not to admit candidates in their 100 MBBS seats for two years due to infrastructural lapses.

It also asked the ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences and Research & Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy Hospital in Haldia and IQ City Medical College Durgapur not to admit students in 100 seats each.