A total of 96 candidates have been allotted MBBS seats through the state quota, an increase by 10 additional seats.
Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said the government has ensured that proper allocation of seats was based on merit and preference across the social categories, which was earlier not there.
She informed that two candidates who were shifted to the Khasi and Jaiñtia bucket from the open category list, have been included as the top two candidates within that category, based on their scores, to enable allotment of their preferred colleges.
Out of the total, 39 seats were allotted to candidates from the Khasi and Jaiñtia category, including two candidates who were selected in open category and one candidate of Person with Disability (PwD); 37 to Garo candidates; 12 under open category and four to other Scheduled Tribe candidates.
“The allocation process has attempted to balance the principle of merit with the principle of social equity as outlined in the Meghalaya State Reservation Policy,” Lyngdoh said.
She said that in the first round, the highest scoring candidate from the open category was allotted a seat according to their first preference. “This was according to the principle of merit, as the highest scoring candidate of the state was given the first choice. Then, the highest scoring candidate from the Khasi and Jaiñtia category was allotted the seat of their preference, followed by the top-scoring Garo candidate and Other Scheduled Tribe (OST) candidates, respectively,” she added.
In each successive round of allotment, the principle of equitable distribution was applied as per the methodology as notified by the department on May 13, 2022. She said that in the second round, the second highest-scoring candidate from the Khasi and Jaiñtia category was first allotted a seat which was followed by allocation for candidates from the Garo, OST, and open categories, respectively.
She further informed that in the third round, the highest-scoring Garo candidate was first allotted a seat which was then followed by allocation for the OST category candidate, open category candidate, and Khasi and Jaiñtia category candidate, respectively.
“In each round of allotment, the first preference in seat allotment was given on a rotational basis to candidates from the Open, Khasi and Jaiñtia, Garo, and OST categories,” she added.
