Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has issued a detailed order on the process of admission to the self-financing medical colleges as a follow-up to the Health Additional Chief Secretary’s order that made it clear that the government would select students to all MBBS seats in the state.
The order, issued on the request of the Entrance Exam Commissioner, assures that minority rights would be protected in the admission process and defines colleges with minority status.
The order lists out minority-run colleges and the community from which admissions have to be made to these colleges.
Of the 26 self-financing medical colleges in the state, 22 belong to the minorities.
Details on fees and the time frame for admissions will be announced later.
The government intends to fix the fee structure in consultation with the self-financing college managements, hoping that the managements would return to the negotiation table if they do not receive a favorable court ruling.
In case the court ruling favors the managements’ arguments, a decision on the fee structure will be left to the Justice J M James Committee.
Though the Justice J M James Committee was scheduled to meet on Monday to decide on the admission process, the meeting was postponed.
The committee says it was waiting for more facts about the admission. No date has been fixed for the next meeting of the committee.
The self-financing college managements are waiting for the committee’s decisions before agreeing on the future course of actions.
The admission to the MBBS seats has to be completed by September 30. The admission process cannot wait for more than a week because of the Onam vacation.
The Entrance Examination Commissioner is ready to notify the admission process and start the allotment any time.
Meanwhile, the self-financing college managements have written to the government about the order issued by Health Additional Chief Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan.
They have categorically stated that they would not part with their rights to select students to their colleges. They are planning to file separate cases against the government’s decision.
