KARACHI, Dec 5: At least 20 candidates, who did well in their entrance test for admission to the two government-run medical colleges in the city, are likely to be deprived of their MBBS seats because of the lack of clarity in the related prospectus and application form.

Some candidates, who made it to the first hundred slots in the provisional merit list of admission to the Dow Medical College and the Sindh Medical College, said that they had been told by the authorities concerned on Wednesday that they (the candidates) would not get admission to the government-run medical colleges in Karachi because, while stating “options”, they had failed to mention the names of the DMC and the SMC in their applications.

Perturbed parents told Dawn that contradictions in the admission prospectus and forms and misinterpretation of rules by the admission authorities had landed unsuspecting students in trouble.

“How can you expect a student, who is domiciled in Karachi and who studied all his life in the city, to want to get admission to a college outside Karachi,” an agitated parent wondered.

However, the authorities are adamant that the students should be admitted to those colleges they mentioned as “options” in the forms, oblivious of the fact that some students may have mentioned the colleges outside Karachi under the impression that they were not supposed to mention the DMC and the SMC as “options” because they were applying for admissions to them.

But the students, quoting from the prospectus, said that it provided that these merit-cum-choice “seats will be over and above seats allocated for general merit of each centre”.

Parents said that the arbitrary interpretation of the rules by the authorities would badly affect their wards who were quite fit for admission in the city colleges. There are a number of names in the merit list of students against whom no medical college has been mentioned, pointed out a parent and questioned whether the health department in such cases would not admit them to any medical college.

While the authorities are of the view that students were required to write the DMC and the SMC as their first choice while giving “options” for admission to medical institutions, affected students said that options were required for reciprocal/merit-cum-choice seats and it should not be considered while finalizing admission on an open merit basis.

“We are domiciled in Karachi and seeking admission at the two city colleges against 414 district merit seats and as such the fresh stance of the admission authority was nothing but an attempt to create confusion and deprive, under a well-thought-out plan, deserving students of admissions in the city colleges,” said a girl student while demanding justice.

A parent said that generally the options were tried when the principal means proved inadequate or unsatisfactory. “We received our application from at Karachi and submitted it for admission to Karachi colleges and under the universal rules first we should be given the fair chance of admission in Karachi,” added a student and urged the authorities concerned to give a sympathetic consideration to the whole issue.

A senior official at the Dow Medical College selection board said on Wednesday that students could submit their objection to the provisional merit list latest by Dec 8. A couple of students turning up with their grievances on the issue of “options” have been advised to submit their views in writing so that those could be placed before the provincial minister for review.