Thiruvananthapuram: The number of open merit seats is set to diminish in medical colleges in Kerala where community seats too are available. This is a fallout of the new norm which envisages that students could be admitted in 15% seats by considering only the merit and not the state where they hail from. This guideline has been included in the prospectus that was published by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) in 2021 May.

Around 350 MBBS general seats in 19 self-financing medical colleges in Kerala would thus be transferred to the All–India quota, which accounts for 15%, as per this criterion.

Thus the number of open merit seats where Keralite students could be admitted is expected to get reduced to around 2.5 out of 100 when candidates from outside Kerala are admitted to 15% All–India quota seats in the self-financing medical colleges.

How exactly it works out
In Kerala most self-financing medical colleges are run by Christian and Muslim communities. Obviously, there are community quota seats in such colleges that are run by the Christian and Muslim managements. There 50 out of 100 seats are reserved for the respective communities. Moreover, 15 seats are for wards of Non-Resident Indians (NRI). Of the remaining 35 seats, 15% seats have to be earmarked for the All-India quota and this allocation should be made without considering the state from where a candidate hails from.

Further, 17.5 out of the 20 remaining seats are reserved for various communities as per central government’s guidelines. So, the open merit seats would be limited to just 2.5.

The managements of the self-financing medical colleges didn’t notice this guideline when it was included in the prospectus. Even if the managements take the legal recourse, it is unlikely that it would be successful.

MBBS admission timetable
The CEE hasn’t taken a decision regarding rescheduling the time table for the MBBS and BDS admissions in Kerala. However, as per the notification the first allotment list would be published on 2 February. A decision about this is likely to be taken on Tuesday, Feb 1.