Admission in public sector medical, dental colleges: 'no discrimination meted out to candidates of South Punjab'

The spokesman of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) has said that no discrimination is being meted out to the candidates of South Punjab with regards to admissions in public sector medical and dental colleges of the province.
Dispelling the impression being created by some political elements, the spokesman said on Friday that for the last 4 years consecutively the candidates from far-flung and under developed district of Southern Punjab have been outshining the students of central and northern parts of the province in medical colleges' admissions.
Merit is the only criterion for admission to any medical/dental college, he emphasised. He said that according to the statistics, the percentage of candidates admitted from the districts of Southern Punjab with respect to the number of candidates who applied from these areas was 11.51 per cent in 2009 and 11.63 per cent in 2010. In contrast, the percentage of candidates admitted from Central Punjab had been 10.27 and 9.63 and those from Northern Punjab were 7.29 and 8.51 in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Moreover, according to population wise analysis also, the percentage of students admitted from Southern Punjab last year was 0.00404 as compared to 0.00362 and 0.00378 for central and northern parts respectively, he added.
The spokesman further said that in 2010, total number of candidates admitted from Multan was 180, Muzaffargarh 144, DG Khan 92, Bahawalpur 72, Bahawalnagar 52, Rajanpur 33, Lodhran 32 and from Bhakkar it was 36. On the contrary, he added, only 133 candidates from Rawalpindi and 48 from Islamabad could get admission in public sector medical colleges of the province last year.
UHS spokesman also refuted the allegation that the weightage of entrance test marks was increased by UHS. He clarified that the UHS was following the weightage formula of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council in compliance with the directive of apex courts.