Kerala private medical colleges contest single counselling

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Private Medical College Management Association (KPMCA) has decided not to accept the decision of the state government to conduct common counselling for admissions to all MBBS seats including management quota in self-financing medical colleges. The decision was based on an earlier directive of the Supreme Court that all admissions to self-financing medical colleges should be from the National Eligibility Cum Admission Test (NEET). The decision was conveyed by the representative of the KPMCA to Health Minister K.K. Shyalaja on Friday.

The Union Health Ministry had earlier issued a directive that admissions to self-financing medical colleges in the state be made from a common list prepared by the state government based on NEET. The Admission Supervisory Committee headed by Justice J.M. James also had endorsed the decisions of the Union Health Ministry and asked the government to go for common counselling for MBBS admissions in self-financing medical colleges.

However, the KPMCA opposed this saying many states including Karnataka had allowed self-financing medical colleges to make admissions to management quota on their own. However, the government which saw this as an opportunity to control the self-financing colleges did not heed their demands and held the view that the managements could go for legal action as the decision was based on a Supreme Court directive.