ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has directed all colleges under its purview to display a merit list before admitting candidates and to send a copy of the list to the council.

The decision has been taken in response to complaints that a number of medical colleges do not display a merit list and instead demand donations from parents, and students are admitted on the basis of donations rather than merit.

“The management committee of the council has observed that there are serious allegations of corruption and malpractice in the admission process by private medical and dental colleges throughout Pakistan,” the letter sent to the colleges states.

According to the letter, student registration with medical and dental colleges would be subject to mandatory provision of merit lists to the council in the future (academic session 2015-16).

Moreover, the letter said admission to foreign students would be allowed on the provision of valid documents proving their nationality.

Colleges have been directed to send merit lists within 10 days of receiving the letter for further necessary action.

One of the complaints emailed by a citizen to the PMDC was obtained by Dawn. In the complaint the citizen alleged that the management of a college had demanded a donation at the interview which he could not provide, due to which his daughter was not considered for admission.

Mr Shafiqur Rehman, in the email said his daughter Asfa Fatima had applied for admission on November 6 and appeared for an interview on November 7 before a faculty member.

“After the interview, my daughter was asked to wait for the merit list to be displayed on November 15, 2015 on its website or published in newspapers. When the merit list was not displayed on the said date we called the college administration, which replied that classes had already begun from November 16,” he said, adding that they informed the successful candidates of the beginning of classes individually.

“My daughter’s cumulative aggregate is 81.7 per cent and we know that some students with 70 per cent aggregate received admission,” he claimed.

When Dawn checked the college’s website on Wednesday, it still stated that the merit list would be displayed soon.

PMDC registrar Hafizuddin Siddiqui told Dawn he would definitely look into the matter and take appropriate action.

“We have been receiving complaints that private medical colleges demand donations from admission seekers so we have decided to collect merit lists from all the colleges. Strict action will be taken if any college is found violating merit or giving admissions [based] on donations,” he said.

“All the medical colleges are bound to display their merit list before the start of admissions,” the registrar said.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2015