NA panel demands penalties for old MDCAT candidates

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health Friday praised Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) for conducting the most transparent MDCAT in recent years.

Chaired by Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, the Committee congratulated PMDC and provincial universities for organising the exam “smoothly and transparently”, with members acknowledging the exam was free of major controversy and paper leaks for the first time in years.

However, the meeting took a sharp turn when members directed PMDC to immediately introduce measures to limit admissions for candidates who secured between 90 and 98 percent marks in last year’s test, but did not enroll and are now eligible again under PMDC’s three-year validity rule.

The Committee warned presence of those high scorers in this year’s pool could lower merit chances of fresh candidates. It proposed PMDC should consider “relative marking or deducting 10 percent marks” for students applying a year late and 20 percent for those two years late, a policy previously used by defunct Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC).

Chairman Mahesh Malani said if PMDC failed to act within two to three days, the Council would be summoned.

The Committee recommended reviewing weightage given to board examination marks to ensure fairness in merit-based admissions, and directed PMDC and Inter Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC) to jointly address complaints from O- and A-Level students about equivalence and evaluation criteria.

On the other hand, PMDC officials stated under the existing PMDC Act, test results remain valid for three years, and Council has no legal authority to bar eligible candidates or manipulate their scores. “If we restrict previous candidates who remain on merit, it will be a violation of law and could be challenged in court”, a senior PMDC official told the Committee.

Vice-chancellors also endorsed PMDC’s stance, saying under PMDC Act, students who had cleared the test in the previous three years could not be barred from admission if they were on merit.

Acknowledging legal position, Chairman Malani conceded PMDC officials were correct according to the Act, but argued, “The Council still has discretion” to use relative marking or percentage deductions “to protect this year’s merit”. He insisted Council must take steps to discourage repeat candidates “Without violating the spirit of the law”.

Vice-chancellors from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told the Committee there had been no paper leaks or cases of impersonation this year. Sukkur IBA University’s representative said 18 candidates scored 170 marks or above, while Balochistan’s Bolan University reported only eight cases of unfair means out of thousands.