Quota for ex-Fata students doubled in medical colleges.

Byline: Ashfaq Yusufzai

PESHAWAR -- The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has doubled admission quota for the students of former Federally Administered Tribal Areas in medical and dental colleges in all the provinces.

A total of 136 seats have been increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which will induct 272 students in public sector medical and dental colleges for the current academic year.

The PMC issued a notification regarding breakup of distribution of new seats in the province's colleges in response to a request made by the Khyber Medical University on December 20 following government's approval for implementing the cabinet's decision of 2017.

The additional seats included 120 of MBBS and 16 of BDS, which according to the notification was a one-time permission.

The medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been admitting 136 students from seven tribal districts under quota system since 1960s. Permanent residents of tribal districts had about 39 seats in other provinces, too, that have been increased to 78.

The allocation of quota in admission to the medical and dental colleges was started to enable the students of the backward areas to catch up with the ones doing FSc from settled districts. Admissions were given to students doing intermediate from colleges based in tribal areas and the rest of seats go to those passing from colleges in settled districts, but possessing the relevant domicile certificate.

The notification said that 50 additional seats had been reserved in the Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar, 15 in Gomal Medical College, Dera Ismail Khan, 10 each in Kohat Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bannu Medical College, Nowshera Medical Complex, Gajju Medical College, Swabi, and Saidu...