Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has flagged discrepancies in the documents submitted by non-indigenous students who were allotted medical seats from the state quota.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the union said that out of the 11 seats allotted to non-indigenous students from the open category, nine such individuals submitted documents which seemed incomplete and also doubted the authenticity of such papers.
In the press statement KSU general secretary Donald V Thabah pointed out that as per rules of the government one of the documents needed to be submitted by non-indigenous students is their Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs).
“Most of them only submitted Provisional Permanent Resident Certificates (PPRCs), which are valid only for three to 12 months,” Thabah said even as he added that most of these PPRCs procured have become invalid since they have crossed the time limit.
The KSU leader also questioned the health department for recognising these documents which are not valid.
Thabah also pointed out that of the nine non-indigenous students some did not even submit their birth certificates.
“Even those who submitted their birth certificates, these were recently procured, especially from Garo Hills,” he said.
The KSU general secretary said that the birth certificate of one candidate, Md Mahmadul Islam, procured in 2012 showed that he was resident of and that too without a court order.
It may be pointed out as per rules for applying for a birth certificate, those who do so more than a month after a child’s birth should be accompanied along with a court order and this also applies to indigenous students.
Thabah also alleged that what is more interesting is that although the student was born in 2003 the date of registration shows that it was done in 2002, a year before his birth.
The union also alleged that a particular candidate submitted documents from the states of Bihar and Rajasthan, birth certificates included, but the student got the PPRC from Thangskai, East Jaintia Hills district.
The KSU also said that after further scrutiny of other candidates who are in the waiting list of the Open Category it was found out that one of them did not have documents to prove that he was a resident of Meghalaya.
The union said that from these revelations it can be pointed out that the genuine non-indigenous people of the state are losing out on the medical seats allotted to the state government.
The KSU also pointed out that as per RTI filed by the union in 2009, from the year 1991 to 2009 out of the thousands of non-indigenous students who studied MBBS through the state quota only three came back to serve in Meghalaya.