MCI kills CSMMU V-C’s idea for easy ‘pass’ for reserved students

On August 9,CSMMU Vice Chancellor Dr DK Gupta wrote to the MCI requesting deliberations on the matter since many students of the reserved categories were unable to secure the qualifying marks for internal assessment to pass a subject.

In the letter,Gupta mentioned that for admission to the MBBS course,the qualifying marks for students of unreserved category were 50 per cent while those of the reserved category were 40 per cent.

“Because of this large difference in the qualifying merit of the students,it is being observed that often students of reserved category are unable to reach the qualifying levels either in the internal assessment or in the criteria to pass any subject,” said Gupta.

The letter further mentioned that as per MCI regulations,a student must secure 35 per cent marks in internal assessment of a particular subject to be able to appear in the university’s final examination in that subject. Also,in each subject,the candidate should secure an aggregate of at least 50 per cent marks,with a minimum of 50 per cent marks in both theory as well as practicals of a subject to pass the examination.

Gupta had proposed that to help students of the reserved category who were unable to secure the required marks,the qualifying marks for internal assessment be made 30 per cent instead of 35 per cent. Also,in the criteria to pass various subject,“50 per cent be read as 40 per cent for such students,” said the letter.

In reply,MCI secretary Sangeeta Sharma said in a letter dated December 8 that the matter has been considered by the Board of Governors of MCI and it was “decided that the present regulations with regards to examinations needs to be followed.”

Meanwhile,in another letter to the MCI on December 2,Gupta has urged its Board of Governors to reconsider its earlier decision to remove the limit on the number of attempts students can make to clear their examinations.

In the latest letter,Gupta has proposed a maximum of three attempts in one “professional examination”,a maximum of six attempts in all three professional examinations and a total of double the period of MBBS course as the maximum period in which course should be completed. He also requested the MCI to appoint a panel of examiners for conducting theory and practical examinations so that students do not allege caste bias by the varsity.

Gupta’s proposal came amid allegations by the students of reserved category that the SC/ST students were failed in examinations due to discrimination.

Even in the examination conducted in October for students who had failed several times in physiology paper of first professional,38 out of 68 who appeared failed again. Of these,19 have appeared for the same examination for 5 to 11 times so far,most being from the reserved categories,said Gupta’s letter.

Under the current MCI regulations,an MBBS student can make any number of attempts to pass the examination and cannot be expelled from the university after a time.