In a rejig of the admission process for postgraduate medical seats, a revised first list of candidates was announced on Thursday. This does not affect the admission of those who already paid their fees and had confirmed their admissions in the first round, sources at the state Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell said.
A stalemate between private medical colleges and the Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) over the management quota and NRI quota fees had brought the admission process to a halt, as the colleges refused to admit students unless they were allowed to increase their fees. The FRA had stipulated the management quota and NRI quota fees to be three times and five times the fees for merit quota students. Following protest by medical colleges, the state government intervened. At present, the management quota fees is four times and NRI quota is five times the merit quota fees.
However, because of the protest by private colleges, several seats remained vacant and after the fee structure was revised, candidates who had already confirmed their admissions wanted to pull out.
“To streamline this, we decided to revise the first list of candidates. This new list only takes into account seats in private medical colleges and for candidates who want to pull out of admissions as the fees had increased,” said Manik Gursal, Commissioner, CET Cell, which conducts the centralised admission process.
In the revised list announced on Thursday, over 4,700 candidates have been allotted seats in colleges based on the preferences filled out in the first round. The candidates have to confirm their admission by paying their fees or the deposit amount between April 27 and 29, which includes Saturday and Sunday.
“We are aware that both the days are bank holidays and that candidates may not be able to make payments. So, we have allowed cheque payments this time. All participating colleges have been directed to keep their admission counters open on Saturday, Sunday and on national holiday, for facilitating students’ admission,” said Gursal.
News Source (Indian Express)