Invalidated Medical College Admissions: Lacs figure even in rank lists

Thiruvananthapuram: The rank of students who got admission to Kannur and Karuna medical colleges in the entrance test results is disproving state Health Minister KK Shylaja's statement that the whose admission is at issue, had merit as per NEET rank lists.

Although the said students did make it to the rank lists, it transpires that those who got seats apparently by paying hefty capitation fees were way down in the lists, as per the the rank list released along with the government order of 14 February.

One student who won a seat in Kannur Medical College had a rank as low as 4,30,529 and one in Karuna Medical College had a rank of 4,10,204. Across the two colleges, several students with rank between 3, 00,000 and 4,00,000 were found to have got seats.

The figures tell that 48 students admitted to Kannur Medical College were placed in ranks between 1,00,000 and 2,00,000, and 11 students between 2,00,000 and 3,00,000. As for Karuna, ten students were ranked close to 2,00,000 and 8 candidates had rank between 1,00,000 and 2,00,000.

When compared with another college, KMCT Medical College, which made admissions without reaching agreement with the government, out of the 150 students who had obtained admission in Kannur Medical College, 44 were eligible, as per the report by Ayush Secretary B Sreenivas, who was appointed to enquire about the matter. Even this report was disregarded in the process of validating the disputed admissions.

In academic year 2016-17, out of the direct allotments of Scheduled Tribe reserved seats made by the government in 20 self-financing colleges, the lowest ranked candidate had a rank of under 40,000, and in Scheduled Caste candidates it was below 20,000. Among those who got seat under state merit, the lowest rank was below 9,000. In the year 2016-17 admissions for BDS to the dental wing of Kannur Medical College were conducted by the government. In the same college, those who got seat this year had higher rank than those who were admitted in medical college.