Dozens of students and their parents who had come to attend the counselling for MSc Basic Sciences and MSc Chemistry at Pal Auditorium in the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) this morning were in for a rude shock as they were denied entry into the counselling centre. They reportedly failed to produce graduation results score.

Showing resentment over this, parents blamed the university authorities for not sparing a thought for the students of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) as the university had still not declared the results of the qualifying examination.

"I have come all the way from Pathankot and my ward has secured a top rank in the merit list of PAU's entrance exam. But they have turned down our application saying that we do not possess the result of graduation so we cannot qualify for counselling," said Harmesh Singh, father of a candidate who had secured seventh rank in the entrance test and was sure of getting admission in her desired course.

Despite the fact that many candidates holding top ranks in the merit list, they were not able to get seats in MSc. "The GNDU has not declared results so it is not our fault. The PAU authorities already knew this so they should have coordinated with GNDU authorities and postponed the counselling till the results were out," said a distressed mother of a candidate who had scored top rank in the entrance test.

"Most of us have come from places like Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Nabha and they have meted out such a treatment to our deserving wards, who would otherwise have got the seats in their desired courses," said Ashok Kumar from Pathankot.

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