Kerala: MBBS spot admissions go haywire

Thiruvananthapuram: The spot medical admissions scheduled to begin at  9 a.m. on Wednesday got delayed as the managements of the self-financing colleges kept off the venue at the old auditorium of the medical college here even as KSU workers took out a march there over the high fees.

By 11 a.m.,  only admissions to seats earmarked for  students from outside the state in three medical colleges began after representatives of the managements arrived. The main spot admission began only by 12.45 noon after  the chaos ended. 

For the first  time, three self-financing medical colleges--Karuna Medical College, Palakkad, KMCT Medical College, Kozhikode,   and Dr Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College, Karakonam,  were allowed to admit students from outside the state to the minority quota. As many as 63  seats were earmarked for outside students.  Karuna and KMCT colleges were  allowed to admit outside Muslim students while  Karakonam could take CSI Christian candidates.

When the spot admission was in progress, the representatives of Karnataka medical colleges  were seen canvassing  students with lower fees. 

The candidates and their parents engaged in heated arguments with the management representatives over the demand for a bank guarantee over and above the higher fees. 

A sting operation by a channel had shown the  authorities of one self-financing medical college saying they would sabotage the NEET list and admit candidates willing to pay higher fees.

Health Minister K.K. Shailaja  asked the parents not to pay bribes and warned that such admissions will be cancelled.