SFMCs protest decision on medical seat-sharing

KOCHI: The self-financing medical college managements have come out in protest against the state government’s decision to take over 50 per cent of seats in medical PG courses. Christian Professional College Managements Federation president George Paul said that the decision has put the managements in trouble.George Paul made it clear that the federation would move the court if necessary. The state government’s order is not practical as the power to effect any change in the conditions of seat-sharing rests with the Supreme Court.If any students were interested in getting admissions to the post graduate courses, they could have secured the admissions. There was an opportunity for such students to get the admission, he said. It was on Friday that the state government issued an order taking over 50 per cent of seats in the self-financing medical colleges. The government also cancelled the admissions made by the  managements to these seats. It was after the state government failed to provide the merit lists to the managements before the last date prescribed that they made admissions to the seats on their own.Meanwhile, a fresh controversy has erupted over the authorities of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) making admissions to the post-graduate courses on their own. According to reports, the AIMS management has not ear marked the merit seats in the post-graduate category to the state government for the last three years.The management of AIMS justified the action. According to the management, the admission procedure and fees structure in a deemed university are  governed by the University Grants Commission Act as the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is a deemed university established under the UGC Act. Since the university was created through Central legislation, the Kerala government has excluded the university from the ambit of state legislation with regard to undergraduate/post-graduate medical admissions, AIMS principal Prathap Nair said.