Management quota in Tamil Nadu medical admissions not above board

MADURAI: The government has ensured transparency in medical admission under the government quota (GQ) in both government and self-financing colleges in the state. However, admissions under the management quota (MQ) in private medical colleges in the state are always under a cloud despite the existence of a committee to oversee admissions to self-financing colleges.
For GQ admission, students choose colleges by attending a counselling session. But, in the case of MQ, no counselling is conducted. The candidates should directly contact the respective colleges for getting admission. Till the time, the rank list is published by the Tamil Nadu Private Professional Colleges Association - Health Sciences (TNPPCA-HS), everything is fine. Thereafter, everything gets murky, activists in the know of admissions alleged. "Those students who are able to pay capitation fee alone are given seats under MQ by the colleges. The students who will pay only the fee set by the state's fee-fixation committee are denied seats," claimed S Ram Sundar, a resident of S S Colony in Madurai.
According to the fee structure, the fee for first year MBBS course in private medial colleges is not more than Rs 3 lakh. But, many private colleges collect nearly Rs7 lakh as fees alone. They also take capitation fee which is up to Rs50 lakh, claimed N Elangovan, who has moved court.
A social activist regretted that the government committee, which is supposed to monitor the admission in private college, has failed in its mission. "State's grievance redress mission (the monitoring committee) is not effective. It is not known as a public-friendly committee. It is institution-friendly," said social activist Henry Thipagne, referring to the role of the Committee to Regulate & Monitor Admissions of Students to Professional Courses by Self-Financing Professional, Arts and Science Colleges.
According to a Supreme Court judgment, medical admission should be completed before September 30. But, several colleges publish advertisements for MBBS admission even nowOne Madha Medical College & Research Institute has released its advertisement in a Tamil daily on October 11, said Ram Sundar.
The social activists and parents demanded that the government take steps to curb shady practices in MBBS admission under the MQ. An issue comes to light only after a few people approach the court. There are other people who suffer a lot in silence, the parents said.
Private professional colleges are a necessity. But, they should ensure that meritorious students should not miss out on education. Government should insist the colleges to release the selection list. By doing so, the meritorious student will get a chance to pursue education, said Saravana Vel, a lawyer.