Patna, Aug. 2: The students preparing for the proposed national-level entrance examination for admission to the MBBS course at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) are outraged over the decision to scrap it and admit students from the merit list of Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination (BCECE).

Several aspirants have registered their protest by writing to the institution and the state health department, urging them not to scrap the separate national-level examination, as planned and advertised earlier. The decision to cancel the examination was revealed a couple of days ago.

IGIMS was recently given the permission by Medical Council of India (MCI) to start a 100-seat medical college. After deliberation with the state government and the board of governors, the institution had published its academic calendar and had decided that a separate entrance examination would be conducted for the 450-bed autonomous health hub. After this, 4,000 students from across the country had applied for the examination.

Things, however, went awry because of a difference of opinion between state health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey and health department principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha.

“While the minister wanted a separate examination for the admissions, the principal secretary was of the view that there was not much time left, as the first counselling would have to be completed by August 31 according to the admission guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. Hence, the students from the merit list of BCECE should be given admission in the health cradle. The institution was caught in the crossfire. Now, after the consent of the chief minister, the plan to conduct the examination has been scrapped,” said a source in the health department.

He said though a final decision would be taken in a meeting of the board of governors of the institute, it is had been finalised that the institution would admit students from the BCECE merit list.

The students, who had applied for the admission test, feel the reputation of the institution was already under doubt, even before the first classes. “We have asked in our petition what was the need to scrap the examination after the chief minister announced the academic plan of IGIMS in the Assembly. If such a controversy has come up in the first-year of the inception of the IGIMS, its repercussions would be felt in the years to come, as students and their guardians would completely lose faith in the institution. Also, the move has jeopardised the future of thousands of applicants, who hoped to get admission there,” the student added.

IGIMS director Arun Kumar said whatever the board of governors decides would be acceptable. Sources said in case the examination is cancelled, the institution would have to return the registration fee to all students. It will put further financial pressure on the academic cell of the institution.