Mamata govt halts Bengal medical entrance exam admissions; Union MoS Sukanta Majumdar slams state administration

Kolkata, August 19 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Education and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Sukanta Majumdar, has lambasted Mamata Banerjee-led government in the state for indefinitely suspending the West Bengal (WB) NEET Undergraduate (Medical and Dental) counselling and admission process.

Taking to his official social media account X on Monday, Union Minister Majumdar shared a copy of the West Bengal government notice in this regard which is dated August 18.

"In the name of an "Urgent Notice", the West Bengal government has indefinitely suspended the WB NEET UG Medical Dental Counselling and Admission process without giving any proper reason! The future of the state's medical students has been pushed into darkness," he wrote.

The former West Bengal BJP President further raised questions on why the process of admission was halted suddenly.

"Why was the admission counselling, once started, suddenly halted indefinitely? Is this yet another attempt to appease narrow political interests by granting undue privilege to a particular group under the guise of reservation?" Union Minister Majumdar asked.

The urgent notice issued by the West Bengal government's Director of Medical Education said, "The WB NEET UG Medical Dental 2025 Counseling/Admission process has been kept in abeyance till further order. All concerned are hereby informed accordingly."

However, no reason was given for the sudden stopping of the admission process.

Sources said the decision was taken due to legal complications arising out of OBC certificate notification case which is being heard by the Supreme Court.

The OBC certificate dispute has already stalled the declaration of West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) results, plunging fate of lakhs of students into uncertainty.

Recently, Justice Kaushik Chanda of the Calcutta High Court set aside the published merit list and ordered a fresh one within 15 days, based on the pre-2010 list of 66 OBC communities.

The court also directed that OBC students be allotted the earlier seven per cent reservation quota.

Following this, the state decided to challenge the High Court directive before the Supreme Court.

On July 28, the Supreme Court had granted an interim stay on the Calcutta High Court order in the case.

On August 11, the apex court however adjourned the matter by a month due to shortage of time and declined the West Bengal government's request for an early hearing in the case.

With the apex court hearing now deferred, Justice Chanda's order remains in effect for the time-being.

--IANS

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