Dharan: B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan has been accused of providing MBBS quota seats, which are reserved for students from remote districts, to students from the more accessible districts.

Some students claiming to be deprived of reservation rights despite being from the remote areas have urged BPKIHS to end the existing anomalies in the distribution of reservation quotas.

“We complained about the misuse of reservation quotas last year also,” said Dr Kumbha Raj Joshi, coordinator of a struggle committee formed by the students. “However, no action has yet been taken.”

BPKIHS has listed Bajhang, Bajura, Darchula, Dolpa, Humla, Jajarkot, Jumla, Kalikot, Manang, Mustang, Rukum and Solukhumbu as remote districts. Students who complete grades 8-10 from those districts can compete for MBBS seats under quota. Students who complete grades 8-10 from private boarding schools are not eligible for the quotas.

However, according to students bereft of the quota opportunity, students studying in accessible districts either pass the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams from remote districts or get forged certificates of having completed grades 8-10 from some rural districts, in connivance with District Education Office (DEO) officials.

“Because of these students, the eligible students are left in the waiting list,” said Joshi. “They end up taking up Bachelor of Dental Studies (BDC) after failing to get the MBBS quota seats.”

This year, Anil Singh Badal from Dharcula, Sandeep Oli from Bajhang and Bibek Shah and Mahesh Singh Dale from Jumla secured MBBS reservation seats. Lalit Singh Dhami, Mahadev Bhatta, Dev Raj Neupane and Bhimkant Jaisi have secured their names in the waiting list.

However, the complaining students say Oli passed his SLC exams from Bajhang only after completing up to ninth grade at Jan Sewa Higher Secondary School, Kirtipur. In addition, Shah went to Karnali to appear in the SLC from there just for the sake of securing a place in the reservation quota, it is also alleged.

Shyam Lamsal, joint spokesperson at BPKIHS, said it is very difficult for them to verify the authenticity of documents produced by students. “How can we differentiate fake documents from original ones?” he said. “It is not possible for us to trace the source of documents.”

source:republica,14 August 2012