Pune Doctor Denied DrNB Cardiology seat, Health Ministry slams Hospital over allocation mix-up

Mumbai: Even after being allocated a Doctorate of National Board (DrNB) seat in Cardiology, a Pune-based doctor was denied admission at LH Hiranandani Hospital in Powai after it was revealed that another candidate had already been admitted by the hospital on the same spot during the previous admission round.

During the third or special counselling round, the aspirant was allocated one of the two seats available for DrNB in Cardiology. However, he was shocked to find out that the concerned seat was already filled in the second round.

Following this, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), which conducts the admission, slammed the hospital for its failure to update the joining of the other candidate on the official portal of the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC).

Also Read: MCC declares final results of NEET SS Counselling special round

As per the latest media report by the Free Press Journal, writing an email to the hospital and the candidate, the Union Health Ministry informed that the concerned aspirant will now be given one of the seats that will remain vacant after completion of the special counselling round. 

However, in that case, the concerned doctor might have to make peace with a less preferred option. In fact, he might not get a chance to get admitted at all. Commenting on this, he told FPJ, "Had it not been for this error, I would have gotten one of the other seats in my preference list. Now, those seats will all be likely taken in this round."

Meanwhile, the hospital has not commented on the matter. However, the hospital's spokesperson said that the decision of the Union Health Ministry would be final in this regard.

The daily adds that similar complaints of re-allocation of seats because of non-reporting by institutes allegedly marred the ongoing admissions to 3,067 super speciality seats.

Medical Dialogues had previously reported that earlier this month the Medical Counselling Committee issued a notice informing that a new provisional result for NEET SS Counselling special round would be announced after noting that some of the super-speciality colleges allegedly took offline admissions and did not notify the candidates through the online portal. 

As per the notice, due to offline admission, the seats came into the matrix of the Special Round for allotment even though they are still occupied by the candidates. Therefore, MCC withdrew the provisional results published on its website.

After this mishap, the Union Health Ministry issued directions to the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, which regulates super speciality programmes, to disable its online portal for joining and registration (OPJR) for reporting admissions as it was "creating confusions" for the institutes.

Also Read: NEET SS Counselling Special round: MCC to announce new provisional results as medical colleges take offline admissions