Bona fide affidavit must for MBBS in Punjab

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 22

In the wake of controversies and protracted litigations over the issue of bona fide residents of Punjab, who aspire to take admission to MBBS and BDS courses, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has mandated that all aspirants and their parents need to submit affidavits stating that they were not claiming the benefit of residence in any other state or UT for admission to MBBS/BDS course, except under central counselling.

In case this information turns out to be false/wrong at any stage, student’s admission would be cancelled as per the undertaking in the affidavit. The online registration for admission to MBBS/BDS courses from eligible candidates on the basis of their NEET UG-2021 score has already commenced.

The university has made it compulsory for every candidate and his/her parents to submit the affidavit about their bona fide residence.

There have been allegations related to the students taking benefits of bona fide domicile in multiple states. Bona fide domicile certificate proves that a person is a resident of a particular place since he transferred or occupied a house with a specific address.

All the states/UTs have eligibility criteria for state quota seats, which protect the rights of actual residents of that state/UT with a mandatory period of schooling along with a fixed period of residence to make the candidate eligibile for state quota.

However, multiple litigations have been filed related to the admission of many students from other states after they got admission to the medical and dental colleges of Punjab claiming them as a bona fide resident.

In a pre-empt move to obstruct such admissions, which later on entail litigation, BFUHS, which conducts the central counselling for admission to medical and dental colleges in the state has mandated all candidates and their parents to submit the affidavit to confirm they were not claiming the benefit of residence in any other state or UT, said an official of BFUHS. Earlier, it was found that many candidates were appearing in the counselling for admission to MBBS course in the same year in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, thus availing the benefit of bona fide residents in more than one state.

Counselling starts

• In case the information turns out to be false, student’s admission will be cancelled as per the undertaking in the affidavit
• It was found that aspirants were appearing in multiple counselling sessions for admission to MBBS course in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh in the same year