Ayush PG entrance: Maha candidates get Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Jammu as centres

Nagpur: Dr Rakesh Shiwankar is from Nanded and he had filed application for the Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) from Pune. The examination is scheduled to be held on September 18. Five days before the examination, he received an online admit card with a college in Jammu mentioned as the examination centre.
According to Shiwankar, he had never selected Jammu while filling centre preferences.Shiwankar said three of his friends too have been allotted the same college in Jammu, which is 2,000km from his place.
More than 2,000 graduates of ayurveda, unani, siddha, and homeopathy streams from Maharashtra, who are set to appear in this entrance test for admission to their desired post graduate courses, received similar shockers on September 13.
In a late night development, some of these candidates were allotted centres in Maharashtra and issued updated I-cards.
“Students from Nagpur and Akola were allotted colleges in Bhopal as examination centre. Candidates in Mumbai and Kolhapur were allotted colleges in Ahmedabad. That too just four days prior to their examination,” said Dr Shubham Bobde whose centre is IES University, Bhopal, despite Maharashtra having designated centres in Akola, Chandrapur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik and Pune.
Dr Vishnu Bawane, national coordinator of the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA), termed it as atrocious move against doctors who have worked tirelessly during the Covid times.
“Is it possible to reach Jammu by train amid the pandemic condition at such a short notice? There is a flood situation in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. We continously requested the National Testing Agency (NTA) to change the exam venues immediately,” said Dr Bawane.
Sources in NTA told TOI that they are conducting AIAPGET since 2019 on behalf of Ministry of AYUSH with the approval of the Ministry of Education while the state government is the facilitating authority. “We have been told that the Maharashtra government is conducting some entrance test on the same date and hence centres are not available. So, NTA was left with no option but to adjust the candidates in other states,” said the sources.
As per the MahaCET website, Common Entrance Tests (CETS- 2021) for professional courses in academic year 2021-22 are being conducted in the state from September 15. CETs for Master of Physical Education and Master in Business Administration & Management Studies are to be conducted on September 18. Collectively, more than two lakh candidates will appear for these exams.
Dr Rahul Raut, state secretary of NIMA students forum, said that all are demanding allotment of centres according to preferences given. “There may be mismanagement or lack of coordination between state and NTA, but ultimately it’s the Ayush doctors who are suffering,” he said.