LAHORE   -  As many as 66,864 candidates including 45,121 females and 21,743 males appeared in the Medical and Dental College Ad­mission Test (MDCAT) which was conducted by the Univer­sity of Health Sciences (UHS) on Sunday. The test started at 1000 hrs and went off peacefully for three and a half hour at 29 cen­tres set up in Lahore, Gujran­wala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Gu­jrat, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Multan, Rawalpindi Bahawalpur, and D.G.Khan. Candidates started reaching their centres as early as 07:00 a.m. UHS had engaged the services of 4270 school and college teachers to perform du­ties as supervisory and invigila­tion staff, 225 superintendence and 355 deputy superinten­dence whereas senior faculty members of the university were deputed as head couriers and couriers to conduct the test. The vice-chancellors, pro-vice chan­cellors, principals, and senior faculty members of government medical institutions in relevant cities were deputed as regional in-charges to ensure success­ful conduct while officers of the Specialized Health Care and Medical Education department, deputy commissioners and as­sistant commissioners in rel­evant districts monitored the arrangements. Section 144 was imposed to prevent the entry of unauthorized persons at the ex­amination centres. All the cen­tres were sealed at 09:00 am. 

A large number of police per­sonnel were deployed at the centres to prevent any disrup­tion of the examination. Ambu­lances, medical teams, and fire brigades were also made avail­able at the centres to counter any untoward incidents. Be­sides, closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, mobile phone jam­mers, and walk-through gates were installed at major centres. A physical search of the candi­dates was also conducted at the entry points. There were proper arrangements for the students with disabilities, parking, and waiting area facilities for the parents of the candidates. Back-up power generators were also provided at some of the centres. For the biometric verification of candidates, NADRA counters were made available at all the centres. In Lahore, a total of 13,259 female and 5755 male candidates appeared in the test at the Government CollegeUni­versity, University of Education Township, Lahore College for Women University, Government APWA College for Women, Di­visional Public School Model Town, Government Queen Mary Graduate College, Divisional Public School Township, Gov­ernment Graduate College for Women Township and Gov­ernment Graduate College for Women, Gulberg. Meanwhile, in Multan, 13591 candidates ap­peared in the test. The number of candidates in Bahawalpur was 5060, Faisalabad 7528, Gujranwala 4142, Sialkot 2573, Sahiwal 3707, Rawalpindi 3335, Sargodha 3123, Gujrat 1727 and D.G. Khan 3064 candidates appeared in the test. 

Punjab Health Minister Pro­fessor Javed Akram and Secre­tary Health Ali Jan Khan visited various examination centres in Lahore. While talking to the me­dia along with Vice Chancellor UHS Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathore, GCU Vice Chancellor Professor Asghar Zaidi, Princi­pal Ameer-ud-Din Medical Col­lege, Professor Sardar Muham­mad Al Fareed Zafar and Special Secretary (Development) Pri­mary and Secondary Healthcare department Fatima Sheikh at Government College University Lahore, Professor Javed Akram expressed his satisfaction over the arrangements. 

The Health Minister said that UHS had made immaculate ar­rangements for the MDCAT. “All the candidates and their parents have been provided a comfortable environment”, Prof Javed Akram said adding that the exam started on time and would end on time. He further said that MDCAT was a tough competition and every effort had been made to uphold merit and transparency. Responding to a question, the provincial minister said the cost for con­ducting MDCAT was more than the money received by UHS for the purpose, so the Punjab Cabi­net had approved an additional grant of Rs 1,000 per candidate for the university. 

UHS VC, Prof. Ahsan Waheed Rathore, said that the conduct of MDCAT was important as it would ensure merit and jus­tice. He further said that new standard operating procedures were developed and fresh multi-tiered security measures were taken for every step of prepa­ration, printing, packaging, and transportation of MDCAT paper. 

Prof Rathore said that medi­cal and dental colleges have always challenged the bright­est and best-prepared minds. He added that admissions were consistently becoming more competitive. “MDCAT results are extremely important. They carry 50 percent weightage in merit as per the formula of the Pakistan Medical & Den­tal Council (PM&DC). They are proof that the candidate can handle the academic rigors of medical or dental college”. He thanked the Punjab govern­ment for its support in the smooth conduct of the test.