By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 2: After the announcement of MBBS seats in various medical institutions, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Saturday said that the state government has managed to raise the total number of seats this time by 10.
“We have done (it) with due diligence to provide justice and best opportunities to all our indigenous people. Further, there was no policy earlier to ensure proper allocation of seats based on merit and preference across the social categories. This we have ensured was put in place. This year we’ve managed to increase our seat allocation by 10 additional seats,” Ampareen told The Shillong Times.
The Health department, on the other hand, underlined that the process of seat allocation was carried out in the spirit of the state quota “with the principle of social equity as outlined in the Meghalaya State Reservation Policy”.
Out of the 92 seats available under the state quota, 39 seats were allotted to Khasi and Jaintia category candidates, including two who were selected in the Open category and one candidate of Person with Disability (PwD); 37 seats for Garo candidates; 12 for Open category candidates; and four seats to candidates under the Other Scheduled Tribe category.
According to the department, in the first round, the highest scoring candidate from the Open category was allotted a seat according to their first preference. “This was according to the principle of merit, as the highest scoring candidate of the state was given the first choice. Then, the highest scoring candidate from the Khasi and Jaintia category was allotted the seat of their preference, followed by the top-scoring Garo candidate and Other Scheduled Tribe (OST) candidates, respectively,” it added.
The department also emphasised that in each successive round of allotment, the principle of equitable distribution was applied as per the official methodology.
In the second round, the second highest-scoring candidate from the Khasi and Jaintia category was first allotted a seat. This was followed by allocation for candidates from the Garo, Other Scheduled Tribe, and Open categories respectively, and in the third round, the highest-scoring Garo candidate was first allotted a seat.
“This was followed by allocation for the Other Scheduled Tribe category, Open category, and Khasi and Jaintia category candidates respectively. Thus, in each round of allotment, the first preference in seat allotment was given on a rotational basis to candidates from the Open, Khasi and Jaintia, Garo, and OST categories,” the department said.
The two candidates who were shifted to the list of Khasi and Jaintia candidates from the Open category list have been included as the top two candidates within that category, based on their scores in order to enable allotment of their preferred colleges.