By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 3: The Health Department on Friday assured that one of the students of the Khasi–Jaintia Category, allotted an MBBS seat, would be migrated to the Open Category (unreserved seat).
A senior official of the department made this assurance to a delegation of the Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) at a meeting.
Talking to reporters, JSU education secretary Bocheru Mi Pohsnem said the migration would pave the way for another student on the waiting list to be accommodated under the Khasi–Jaintia Category.
Stating that they raised their concern over the discrepancies in the allocation of MBBS seats from the Central Pool, Pohsnem said the department claimed that there was no partiality as it was strictly following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
He further said officials informed them that students were being allotted seats based on their scoresheets and the selection of medical colleges as per their choice.
The JSU expressed its reservation on a few points in the SOPs. The officials requested the student body to submit its recommendations, so they could be examined and incorporated in the SOPs.
“We will send our recommendations at the earliest,” Pohsnem said.
Meanwhile, in a letter submitted to the Director of Health Services (M), the JSU raised serious concerns on the irregularities observed in the merit list and seat allotments.
Pohsnem said this appeared to undermine the principles of meritocracy and fairness enshrined in the Constitution of India and reiterated by the Supreme Court.
As a representative body of Khasi and Jaintia students who form integral Scheduled Tribe communities under the Khasi-Jaintia Category, he said they were deeply concerned that meritorious candidates from their community were being denied their rightful placement under the Open Category, despite possessing superior NEET scores compared to certain selected candidates.
This, he said, not only contravened established legal precedents but also deprived deserving students of opportunities aligned with their academic excellence, while failing to optimise the reservation system for broader community benefit.
Pohsnem said the JSU meticulously reviewed the published lists across categories (Open, Khasi–Jaintia, Garo, and OST/SC) and identified specific discrepancies, warranting immediate corrective action.
Pohsnem said Serial No. 13 under the Open Category merit list (Diya Ghosh) has a NEET score of 472 while the top-ranked candidate under the Khasi–Jaintia Category (Rikor Nongkynrih) has a NEET score of 475.
He said this placement ignored the superior merit of the Khasi–Jaintia candidate who qualified for Open Category consideration without relying on reservation.
As per Meghalaya state quota rules for MBBS admissions (governed by the Directorate of Health Services and aligned with NMC’s Undergraduate Medical Education Board guidelines), unreserved (Open) seats are open to all eligible candidates based purely on NEET merit.
Excluding a reserved candidate who scored higher perpetuates inequity and underutilises the reservation quota, which could instead accommodate additional lower-merit reserved candidates, Pohsnem said.
Further, he said that Serial No. 14 under the Open Category merit list (Tanuska Chakravorty) has a NEET Score of 442. The 7th-ranked candidate under the Khasi–Jaintia Category (Suwandaka Wann) has a NEET Score of 443.
He said this resulted in a less meritorious candidate occupying an Open seat while a superiorly qualified Khasi–Jaintia student being confined to the reserved category, limiting opportunities for further reserved admissions.
Pohsnem said the compartmentalisation of categories in horizontal reservations should not bar merit-based migration. Research into Meghalaya’s MBBS counselling process (via official notifications from meghealth.gov.in and NEIGRIHMS guidelines) confirms no explicit bar on such migration and instead follows the all-India model where merit takes precedence over category silos for unreserved seats.
Pohsnem said Tanuska had been allotted a seat at RIMS, Imphal and a Khasi–Jaintia Category student (Amebaaihunsha Kharbhih, NEET Score 445) had also been allotted RIMS, Imphal. This, he said, highlighted arbitrary prioritisation.
He said the Khasi–Jaintia candidate should have been migrated to the Open Category, thereby freeing the reserved seat for another deserving reserved candidate without altering preferences.
Such inconsistencies, he said, violated the principle of “merit-cum-preference” under the Meghalaya Medical Admission Regulations (as per state notification aligned with the NMC Act, 2019), which mandates allotments based on rank and choice, not rigid category barriers.
The JSU education secretary said at least eight Khasi–Jaintia candidates (with scores of 475, 468, 467, 463, 449, 445, 443, and 442) surpassed multiple Open Category selections, yet they remained unconsidered for migration. This affects seats in prestigious institutions like Lady Hardinge Medical College and Government Medical College, Chandigarh.
Pohsnem added that the current allotment does not reflect true merit, potentially leading to judicial challenges and eroding trust in the process.
The JSU pointed out that Meghalaya’s admission framework (SOP for Central Pool Quota on meghealth.gov.in) is aligned with the NMC Act, 2019, which emphasises transparent, merit-based allocations.
Denying migration penalises excellence and contravenes the goal of reservations to uplift without stifling merit, the student organisation further stated.
