NAWABSHAH, March 11: Admissions to the medical colleges of Punjab against the seats reserved for the candidates of Sindh on reciprocal basis were refused by the secretary for health, Punjab, and the medical colleges concerned.

The five students of Sindh, Adnan Maqsood, selected at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, to be admitted at the King Edward Medical College, Lahore; Ms Sana Yousuf, selected at the LUMHS and to be admitted at the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore; Ms Summaya Saleem, selected at the LUMHS and to be admitted at the Rawalpindi Medical College; Hazqeel Ahmed, selected at the Chandka Medical College and to be admitted at the Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore; and Naveed Ahmed, selected at the Chandka Medical College and to be admitted at the Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, cleared the entry tests held by the IBA and applied for admissions in medical colleges of Punjab on reciprocal basis.

These students were referred to the secretary for health, Punjab, for their admissions by the Sindh health department through letter No SOT-II(ME)1-1/2002 dated 12-02-2002 with a request that the approval for admission of the above candidates may kindly be conveyed to the principals of concerned medical colleges.

The parents of one the affected students told Dawn that when they approached the medical college concerned, they were informed by the principal that there were no reserved seats on reciprocal basis from this year and the student could not be admitted.

They further said that when they approached the Punjab health department, they were told that the reciprocal admissions were stopped from the current year after the decision of a case by a court.

It was also informed, however, that these five cases were sent to the Ministry of Health, Islamabad, for further assistance and directions and soon a reply would be given by the federal ministry which would decide the case.

The parents of the students demanded of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, federal health minister and provincial health minister to allow their children to be admitted to the colleges concerned.

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