Failing to read the fine lines earlier : A cocktail of apathy and lethargy
- Sangai Express Editorial :: July 20, 2013 -

Lethargy, incompetence, a state of ennui and yes arrogance.

This should explain why the State Government failed to read the fine lines in the order issued by the Supreme Court, regarding the conduct of Pre-medical Tests and promptly decided to cancel the State PMT this year, and instead rely on the results of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test conducted by the CBSE under the guidelines of the Medical Council of India.

To be sure, the State Government, aided and advised by its babudom must have come to the decision to cancel the State PMT on the basis of the ruling passed by the Supreme Court of India on May 15, wherein, it was stated that results of the State PMTs held before May 13 may be declared, but results of PMTs held after May 13 should be withheld without the prior permission of the Court.

This much is clear, but the important point is, the State Government and its babudom failed to note that nowhere did the Supreme Court say that State Governments cannot conduct its own PMT. A Cabinet decision taken by looking, not studying, at just one line of the Supreme Court and here lies exposed the casual approach of the Government to issues as crucial as the career of students making a bee line to enter the noble medical profession.

It was also clear that the Supreme Court would have the last say on whether the all India test conducted under the name of NEET would meet the criteria of ‘rights of State and private institutions’ before the eyes of the law.

That the State Government or more specifically the State Cabinet failed to think out of the box and note that the Supreme Court had not said anything on barring the States from conducting their own PMT now stands exposed.

That this crucial point was highlighted to the State Government is there on record, if the reports and commentaries carried in the media are anything to go by.

But arrogance blinded the men in the corridors of power to the reasoned studies and analyses brought forward by concerned citizens of the land. The arguments put forward was stonewalled by the Government with their one line stand, No PMT, it is NEET.

Engineering a complete breakdown in the process of discussion and debates between the public and the Government.

As things stand today, the State Government and more specifically the State Health Directorate have gone hyper active on how to deal with the situation and hold the PMT for the aspiring candidates.

More like a case of closing the doors after the horses have bolted, but fortunately it may not come to such a pass, as there seems to be some time to prepare and conduct the PMT.

How the State Government goes about doing this is something which only time can tell, but the important lesson should not be lost on anyone.

This is not the way to handle things, matters which concern the future of thousands of students. Farcical and quixotic, are the terms that come to mind.

To be sure, there will be another Cabinet meeting, discuss, The Sangai Express would not like to use the word deliberate here for reasons which need not be elaborated, the same thing again, and yes, the Cabinet will announce that the State PMT will be held.

The point is, such a farcical situation would not have arisen, no energy would have been wasted, besides of course the financial losses to the parents and guardians of the students, who had put in their best effort to appear for the State PMT, if only the ruling of the Supreme Court was perused with the seriousness it deserved.

How about the impact on the minds of the young students ? The tension that they must have undergone, especially those who did not appear for NEET, waiting for the State PMT ?

Who will compensate for the mental ordeal that these young students had to face ?

It is doubtful that the State Government would have even given a thought to this, given the cavalier manner in which it took the decision to scrap the State PMT in the first place.

Now that the Supreme Court has made its stand clear, let the State Government leave nothing to chance to ensure that the aspirants are given the opportunity to sit for the State PMT.

The farce has already been enacted and there is no reason to prolong this.