LAHORE: The Young Doctors Association has decided to challenge in the Supreme Court a decision of the Lahore High Court division bench declaring the central induction policy null and void for admission to private medical and dental colleges.

An announcement to this effect was made by YDA central general secretary Dr Salman Kazmi on Thursday. He said that a total of 8206 candidates had submitted applications with the University of Health Sciences for admission to 34 private medical and dental colleges under the central induction policy.

The decision has put the future of all these students at stake because various private institutions have already completed admissions underhand and sold seats.

He urged parents and students to become party to the case by filing individual petitions in the Supreme Court.

YDA’s lawyer Azhar Siddique said that the status of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) was a legal matter but the central admission policy was a decision made to ensure merit and to “end this ‘loot sale’ these businessmen arranged every year in the name of medical education,” he said.

“Admissions to private sector medical and dental colleges should continue to be regulated to ensure merit. All candidates should have an equal opportunity to show their suitability for the MBBS and BDS programmes,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2017