No 50% cutoff for quota students in AIIMS test

Institute Unable To Fill Reserved Seats, May Face SC Ire

Risha Chitlangia | TNN

New Delhi: Unable to fill all reserved category seats last year, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has decided to do away with 50% cutoff criteria in its MBBS entrance exam from this academic session. The decision is likely to spark controversy as faculty members and junior doctors feel that this is in violation of SC order, according to which, there ought to be cutoff marks in all medical entrance exams.

Now, if a reserved category student scores a zero or negative marks he/she can still get admission in AIIMS provided there is seat available in category he/she belongs to. According to rules, if reserved category seats are not filled, then these will filled up by general category students.

“Now, a reserved category student will get admission in AIIMS even if he/she scores zero in the entrance exam. A general category student with 50% marks will be rejected as the seat belongs to the reserved category. The 50% marks in entrance exam was a way to to get deserving students in AIIMS,’’ said Dr Rahul Bhargava, president of Resident Doctors’ Association, AIIMS.

According to Dr Sunil Chumber, sub-dean academics, AIIMS, “This is a hypothetical situation—no one scores a zero in the entrance exam. And I don’t want to comment on a situation which will never occur. Moreover, only those students are eligible to apply who have scored 50% marks in Class 12.’’

But senior faculty members feel that this will bring down the standard of India’s premier medical institute.

The MBBS entrance exam is scheduled for June 1. Faculty members and resident doctors say that the scrapping of the 50% cut-off marks in entrance exam is against the SC order.

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An SC bench looked into many previous SC judgments related to the issue and came to the conclusion that an authoritative pronouncement was needed from a constitution bench. Rule 16(2) of CSE Rules provides an opportunity to reserved category candidates, who rank among the general category, to fall back on their backward class status and improve their service choice. The improved service so availed by the candidate would then be counted against the quota posts specified for that service. TNN