Merit given priority: Hek
SHILLONG: A day after the State Government announced the list of students who have been selected for the MBBS and BDS courses in various institutions across the country, government on Wednesday said candidates were selected purely on merit.
“There has been a delay in the announcement of the list as questions were raised over the decision of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to have the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) to admit students to various MBBS courses and we have released the list following the fresh directive of the Centre,” Health and Family Welfare Minister AL Hek said on Tuesday.
“We received a letter from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare department on August 29 asking the State Government to initiate the allotment of the seats on the basis of the NEET ranking and percentage of marks at the Higher Secondary level. As per the letter, the students were required to take admission within September 30,” Hek said adding that a total of 56 seats have been allotted to Meghalaya.
While stating that the candidates were selected purely on merit, Hek expressed surprise that people were talking about the ranking of the various medical institutions.
“As far as my knowledge is concerned, every institute in the country is equal,” he added.
He, however, rued the fact that the State Government till date did not have the list of latest rankings of the medical institutes.