Imphal, August 07: Reacting to the charges and the demand raised by DESAM for the Health Minister to resign in connection with the contention over question keys in Physics and Chemistry in the MBBS/BDS entrance examination this year, the Health Dept has issued a statement clarifying their position.

Giving a detailed account, the statement said that following complaints that key answers in Physics and Chemistry were wrong in the entrance examination, a meeting of subject experts/moderators was held on June 27.According to the experts/moderators, there was nothing wrong in the answer keys, said the statement and added that accordingly the Health Dept issued a statement stating the stand of the experts on June 27.An order was also issued by the Health Dept rejecting the claim that the answer keys were wrong.

However, DESAM increased the pressure and the State Govt after minutely discussing the matter decided to seek the opinion of the subject experts of Council of Higher Secondary Education, Ma-nipur.

Accordingly a written intimation was sent to the Secretary of COHSEM on July 25 to convene a meeting of the experts.

The Govt did not say that it would be sending any experts from its side, said the statement and added that only the Health Director and Joint Secretary (Health) would be deputed.

However the Secretary of COHSEM turned the approach of the Govt to convene the said meeting and a written missive was received by the Govt in this regard on July 27. On the other hand, since the Supreme Court of India had ruled that the Medical Council of India should start the counselling of the selected candidates within a stipulated time so that the admission process can be finalised as soon as possible, added the statement.

A meeting was also held with DESAM representatives at the office of the Health Minister on August 3 and the issue concerning the answer keys was discussed.

According to the deadline set by the MCI as per the directive of the Supreme Court, the counselling and admission process have to be finalised by July and the latest deadline for admission is August 8, said the Health Directorate.

Since the deadline was fast approaching and it was a matter of losing the medical seats allotted to the State and since the COHSEM had refused to convene the meeting, information about the counselling was intimated to the successful candidates.

DESAM was also informed, claimed the statement.

The Joint Secretary (Health) was asked by the Health Director to send written missives regarding the decision of the Government on August 3 itself.

The misunderstanding may have arisen because of poor communication between the Health Directorate and DESAM.

The question taking any decision on the sly by the Government does not arise, added the Health Directorate.

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