In a major setback for medical aspirants in Kerala, the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) has refused to give permission to 700 medical seats across seven colleges in the state. With this, the total number of disallowed seats has gone up to 1,700. Last year, there were 4,000 medical seats on offer, and with the latest decision, the total number of medical seats in Kerala has come down to 2,300.
The list of colleges that have lost permission to grant admissions include Pariyaram Medical College; Azeezia Medical College; Government Medical College, Ernakulam; Government Medical College, Palakkad; Kannur Medical College; SUT Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram; and Karakonam CSI Medical College.
Lack of required number of professors, basic facilities, including infrastructure, and patients are the main reasons cited by the university for denial of permission for admissions. With this, there are only 2,300 seats, comprising 1,100 all-India seats (including that of Paripally ESI medical college) and 1,200 private seats for medical aspirants in Kerala.
KUHS governing council, set to meet on July 7, will take a final decision in the matter. The university has decided that only those medical and dental colleges that are able to establish that they are fully compliant to norms would be given permission on July 7.
The university is taking all efforts to avoid last-minute exemptions, as has been the practice for the past few years. The university has taken note of the fact that colleges have adopted a lackadaisical approach in adhering to norms as they expect authorities to ease the norms as admission deadlines approach. However, this year, such colleges would face the stick, the university has warned.
KUHS added that four dental colleges have also been denied permission to offer admissions this year. Dental colleges of Pariyaram, Century (Kasargod), Indira Gandhi Institute (Ernakulam) and Kannur are the ones that have lost their recognition. While these colleges can be provided as online options, these shall be subject to the university's guidelines later on.
The first phase of online options will end on June 29, while the first allotment list will be published on June 30.