Medical education: LHC issues notices on plea challenging gender-based quota

Petitioners say the UHS imposed the policy ‘secretly’ five days before application deadline.

LAHORE: While hearing a petition challenging the quota-based admission policy for MBBS programmes, the Lahore High Court on Tuesday declared the final merit list contingent upon its final verdict in the case and sought a reply from the health secretary, the University of Health Sciences and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council by November 5.

Petitioners Sadia and Asma Javed, among others, said they had applied for admission in MBBS. They said that they had secured good marks in their intermediate examinations but had been refused admission in MBBS. They said it was because of a gender quota-based admission policy, imposed by the University of Health Sciences, favouring men applicants.

Counsel for the petitioners said the UHS had published advertisements in newspapers saying that students would be admitted in MBBS on the basis of open merit. He said the petitioners had applied for admission but the UHS had “secretly” changed its policy five days before the last date to submit admission forms. He said the policy was discriminatory and discouraged women from applying for admission in MBBS.

Counsel said the Supreme Court had already ruled that MBBS admissions should only be based on open merit. The petitioners requested the court to restrain the UHS from imposing the quota policy and depriving several competent women students from admission.

Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza of the LHC then issued a notice to the health secretary, the PMDC, and the UHS with directions to submit their replies at the next hearing. He said the final merit list would be conditional on the court’s verdict.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2014.