Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has constituted a high-level committee to review matters pertaining to admission to medical colleges of the province, and also enhanced admission quota for disabled students from 12 to 16 in the these colleges.
The committee comprising principals of King Edward Medical College, Lahore; Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore; Dental College, Lahore; Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore; Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi; Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur; Shaikh Zayed Medical College, Rahimyar Khan, and representatives of University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Health Department; and Education Department.
While presiding over a meeting held here on Monday the chief minister said that merit policy would strictly be implemented for admission to medical colleges in the province. Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed, Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Rasool, University of Engineering and Technology vice-chancellor Lieutenant General Muhammad Akram (Retd) and other officers concerned were also present in the meeting. Punjab Health Secretary Rashda Malik gave detailed briefing about the admission policy for the medical colleges.
The chief minister said that reserved seats in medical colleges for the Southern Punjab and under-developed areas of the province have produced desired results. The representation of medical students belonging to Southern Punjab has been ensured while special attention is being paid to encourage intelligent and talented students, he added.
He also said that 28 seats have been reserved in the medical colleges for Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Bhakkar, and Layyah districts so that equal opportunities could be provided to the students of these areas. The entry system has been made transparent for admission to medical colleges, while one seat each has been enhanced for Northern Areas in Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, and King Edward Medical College, Lahore.