Daily Times

Observing that regulatory authorities do not fall under the provincial domain, the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday ordered the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) to address the grievances of the students over the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) 2020.

The IHC issued the directives while hearing a plea filed by students over the violations by the PMC in the MDCAT exam. The court said that students should go to the PMC and all their objections would be heard.

During the hearing, the counsel for the students argued that carrying out examinations is not in the domain of the federal government and is a subject of the provincial government.

However, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah rejected the argument and said that regulatory authorities do not fall under the provincial domain. He then ordered the PMC to resolve the complaints of the students.

Earlier, amid the criticism on the medical regulator body, the Sindh government has also thrown its full weight behind the students, demanding permission to conduct an entry test for the local medical and dental colleges by itself.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also submitted a resolution to the Punjab Assembly demanding rechecking of the MDCAT papers in the presence of candidates and the release of an FIA inquiry into the test irregularities.

Several protesting candidates are demanding the rechecking of their papers, some called for the grant of passing marks to be 50 percent and others wanted grace marks or the MDCAT to be held again.

However, PMC Vice-President Ali Raza rejected the allegation of incorrect marking of some MDCAT questions, saying not only were all papers marked correctly but all candidates got grace marks as well. He also said some students were shown absent from the test due to a technical error, which was immediately fixed.

Raza said there was no human involvement in paper checking, while the PMC made 27 questions difficult to decide about the college the successful candidate is to be enrolled in.