MBBS admissions: LHC strikes down new policy

Court terms policy a violation of fundamental rights.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court (LHC) set aside Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) gender-based admission policy in MBBS, calling it a violation of fundamental rights protected by the Constitution.

Sadia, Asma Javed and several other MBBS candidates had filed the petitions saying they had secured good marks in FSc exams and applied for admission in the MBBS. “We were deprived of admission because the University of Health Sciences imposed a quota-based admission policy, under which 50 per cent seats were allocated for men and 50 per cent for women students,” they said.

“The university had earlier published advertisements in various newspapers stating that the admissions to MBBS will be made on open merit. However, five days before the last date for submitting admission forms, the policy was changed. This was done to discourage women who would secure 62 per cent seats under the open merit scheme,” the petitioners said.

Their counsel said the Supreme Court had ruled that MBBS admission should not be based on a quota system.

They requested the court to restrain the UHS from imposing a quota policy that deprived competent women students of medical education.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2014.