"They are playing with our futures. First, they gave us admission through merit, and now that we have enrolled, settled, and even taken classes for a month, the authorities are saying that our admissions have been cancelled and that they made a mistake," an angry Sushma Pal told The Quint as she stood outside the secretariat office in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, waiting to meet officials.
"If they made a mistake, why should we suffer?"Sushma Pal
Sushma and at least 10 other girls travelled from Jhabua to Bhopal – a distance of over 350 km – to plead their case. They said they met various officers, including Sapna Lovanshi, Additional Director at the Directorate of Health Services, but got no relief.
The Madhya Pradesh government conducted a statewide Pre-Nursing Selection Test in February 2021 for 570 seats in Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The results of the written examination were declared in April 2021.
The first phase of counselling-cum-seat allotment began in September 2021. Out of 570 seats, admissions were completed for 425 seats. The remaining 145 seats were allotted after the second round of counselling in December 2021.
However, the admission of all the 145 students enrolled through the second round of counselling has now been terminated.
Students Allege They Were Informed Via WhatsApp
Sushma – a student in the final year of graduation from a private college – was overjoyed when her name made it to the counselling list of the Pre-Nursing Selection Test in December last year.
She left her private college, got her transfer certificates and other documents, and readily applied for the Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree from Government Nursing College in Jhabua district.
Twenty-two-year-old Mansi Rahangdale, too, dropped out of her Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology from a private college, after she had already paid nearly Rs 1 lakh in college fees to pursue her nursing career. Now, she is worried if she will be readmitted to the private college.
Along with Sushma and Mansi, 143 other female students had taken admission in various government-run nursing colleges throughout the state – many after dropping out of private colleges.
We come from a poor background, and nursing is our only hope. We have gone through exams, ranked on the merit list, and then got admission. But they have cancelled our admission, and I found out via a WhatsApp message. What will happen to our education? Who will be responsible?Sushma Pal
What Had Happened?
In a letter dated 20 January, the Directorate of Health Services said that the 'reservation roster' wasn’t followed, and hence, the current allotment was being cancelled. The letter further stated that the second round of seat allotment would be done through a new process.
Speaking to The Quint, Dr Sudam Pandharinath Khade, commissioner of health services, Madhya Pradesh, reiterated the points made in the letter:
"During the second round of seat allotment, the reservation roster wasn't followed. When we came to know about it, we nullified the seats allotted in this round. We will be conducting a fresh seat allotment process soon."
According to rule no. 10 of Pre-Nursing Selection Test guidelines, laid down on the official website of the Directorate of Health Services, Madhya Pradesh, the seats remaining after the first round of counselling shall be 'Adjusted to the Open Category'. The allotment of these seats shall be done on the basis of merit and choice of the students.
But the health commissioner said that rule no. 10 is only applicable when no student from the reserved categories has been left in the merit list to take admission.
However, their mistake would cost us our future, said the students.
"Our admission was done as per the rules laid down by them. We didn’t make any rules. But when we pointed out this to the officials, they turned us down saying that it was an error, that it’s been only one month since we took admission, and that it wouldn’t spoil our career. But it’s not true."Another nursing student who wished to remain anonymous
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