Strife-torn Manipur failed to announce MBBS-UG merit list on time – Times of India

GUWAHATI: The Manipur government failed to declare the NEET-UG merit list for the state students, who are seeking admission in MBBS courses in the four medical colleges of the strife-torn state, on time.
The merit list was scheduled to be published on Tuesday.
The Manipur directorate of health services had set July 7 as the last date for the declaration of the merit list of the NEET UG-2023 qualified students for admission in the four medical colleges in Manipur — two under state government and one each under the central government and private management.
With the popular mode of online submission of forms paralysed by the two-month-long internet ban there, the district health department officials from Jiribam could not visit the directorate of health services in the state capital, Imphal, to submit the physical applications of the students due to the prevailing law and order situation.
Sources in the directorate said considering the situation in the state and the threats faced by commuters on roads, the health department has not permitted any of its district officials to bring offline forms from Jiribam, the southernmost district bordering the Barak valley in Assam. The source also said that due to the non-availability of helicopter services in the last three days, the application forms could not be airlifted from Jiribam.
A directorate official said, “Unless we get all the application forms at the directorate, it will not be possible to prepare the merit list. Despite all the difficulties, we managed to transport the offline forms from the rest of the districts. The road transport between Jiribam and Imphal remains risky given the prevailing law and order situation.” Airlifting has been the only way wherever road travels are considered risky due to violence, he said.
Notably, the department allowed submission of applications for MBBS admissions offline at the directorate in Imphal and the offices of the chief medical officers in the districts apart from the online submission option this year.
The directorate is conducting the admission process for 85% quota of MBBS seats reserved for state-domicile NEET candidates at the Churachandpur Medical College (CMC) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal East. Though the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal West, is a central government institute and around 30 out of the 125 MBBS seats here are allocated to the state.
The Shija Academy of Health Sciences, Imphal West, a private entity, has an intake capacity of 150 MBBS students.
Even as the directorate is hopeful of preparing the merit list soon, inside sources said another challenge ahead is to streamline the campuses for conducting the classes. The Meitei students from the first batch at the CMC in the Kuki-inhabited Churachandpur district were evacuated and are now allowed to join classes at JNIMS. The source said the same policy may be adopted by the CMC for the upcoming batch — allowing students to join the classes either in Imphal or the CMC campus in Churachandpur.
Officials said the CMC has been granted permission by the NMC to have classes both at Imphal and CMC campuses for one year.
“The colleges will take a final call on where to conduct the classes after the counselling is over, probably by August,” the official added.
Once the merit list is announced, the eligible students will have to report to the respective colleges assigned along with the nomination letters to be given by the directorate.