The State stands to lose 850 seats for the MBBS course with the Medical Council of India (MCI) denying permission to seven colleges to admit students.
Three colleges have been denied permission to admit students for 2018-19 also.
The colleges affected are SR College, Varkala, (100 seats), Al Azhar Medical College, Thodupuzha (150), Mount Zion Medical College, Pathanamthitta (100), Kerala Medical College, Palakkad (150), Government Medical College, Idukki (50), Kannur Medical College (150), and the DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad (150).
Of these colleges, the MCI banned admission for two years beginning 2017-18 in the Wayanad college, Al Azhar, and Kerala Medical College. Permission for admission was denied for the year 2017-18 to Mount Zion Medical College.
SR College, Varkala, and Kerala Medical College are embroiled in a controversy with allegations of kickbacks being paid to State BJP leaders to secure MCI recognition.
While Al Azhar Medical College and the Wayanad college are understood to have obtained a stay against the MCI decision, three other colleges are understood to have approached the Supreme Court. The decision of the MCI flies in the face of the decision of the Lodha committee set up by the Centre to study the functioning of the MCI.
Council member Fazal Gafoor pointed out that the Lodha committee had granted recognition to many medical colleges without verifying many things, including the infrastructure of the institutions. The committee had told the colleges last year that there would be inspections in 2017 and that recognition is contingent on colleges meeting the demands of the MCI.
“This means that even this year the colleges have not been able to meet the criteria laid down by the MCI. Somehow, the Centre was also forced to take a decision backing the council. This is why some colleges went to court against the decision of the MCI,” he added.
Commissioner for Entrance Examinations M.T. Reju said the loss of seats for the MBBS programme would put more pressure on seats that were available for allotment.
