Self-financing row: Parents protest spot admission

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The protests by the parents and students marred the spot admissions to 415 vacant MBBS seats in various self-financial medical colleges held  by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations here on Friday. The admissions were conducted to 150 seats each in KMCT and Kannur medical colleges, 100 seats in Karuna medical college and 15 seats in various other medical colleges.  The process that began by 9 a.m. continued till late into the night.

As the admission process began, a section of parents and students voiced protests over the demand for higher fees by the self-financing managements, including a bank guarantee of Rs 40 lakh. The parents alleged that there was  lack of clarity in the entire process. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea filed by the state government against the higher fees prescribed by the three self-financing medical colleges - Karuna, KMCT and Kannur.

The court cited that the petitions could not be entertained in the last minute as the admission process had to be completed by Friday night as per earlier guidelines. The Supreme Court also referred the matter back to the High Court. While Kannur and KMCT medical colleges  fixed  fees of Rs 10 lakh for all seats, Karuna fixed it at Rs 7.5  lakh. With the SC rejecting the state’s pleas, these colleges could insist on this fees structure during the spot admission. Spot admissions to 138 vacant seats for BDS course in 11 self-financing dental colleges were also conducted on Friday.