Cong agitates over MBBS admissions

Team Herald

MAPUSA: Over 50 Congress workers confronted the Director of Technical Education over admissions to MBBS course at his Porvorim office, on Friday evening.

They pointed out that the Goa government fixed annual income at Rs 3 lakh for being classified as “economically weaker section”, but after the first round of admissions, the income limit was raised to Rs 8 lakh as per the Central government reservation policy. However, they complained that the Goa government failed to notify the revised income limit for being classified as “economically weaker section” in advance.

“This was done to facilitate a relative of the chief minister to get an MBBS seat,” the Congress workers alleged.

Denying that the government delayed to notify the new income limit to facilitate a relative of the chief minister to get an MBBS seat, the director said that the Central governments reservation policy was adopted by the State later. “It was gazetted after being adopted and no illegality was done to benefit anybody,” he said. 

However, he failed to answer why the policy was adopted after publication of the prospectus and why wider publicity was not given to the new policy.

As the Congress workers were unwilling to accept his and continued with their confrontation, police were called to the venue.

The agitating Congress workers comprised of GPCC Vice President Sankalp Amonkar, General Secretary Janardhan Bhandari, North Goa District President Vijay Bhike, Congress Spokesman Amarnath Panjikar, Youth President Varad Mardolkar, Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee President Pratima Coutinho and others.