Confusion reigned on the first day of the issue of application forms for MBBS and BDS course at the Kilpauk Medical College premises where people had gathered since early morning on Tuesday.
Most of those who had come to buy application were not aware that it could be downloaded. Some said the site would not print the forms. As only 25,000 forms were available, the aspirants said they decided to come in person. Working parents took leave from work. Some had come to KMC from as far as Porur and Ambattur because they thought it was wise to collect forms form the college where counselling for the seats would be held.
By the time M. Pandian, an Electricity Board employee, had got an application form for his son he was vexed. “I had to spend the entire morning merely to get one application form. Anna University issues application forms and they have several counters. They do not follow the rule of attestation of caste certificates. Nor do we have to submit a demand draft for the form. It is not just Rs. 500 for the application but I also have to shell out Rs. 34 as commission,” he said.
An agricultural labourer who had come from a hamlet in Virudhachalam, a three-hour bus ride from Chennai, was dejected when he learnt that he was expected to bring the original caste certificate along with an attested copy of the same. K. Kaliaperumal had been waiting in the queue at the college since morning and at 11.30 a.m. when his turn came to submit the covering letter and the copy of the caste certificate for the free application form, he was told to get the copy attested by a doctor.
His daughter Ananthi had scored 486 in class X and is a first-generation learner. She is studying in a private school in Ambermedu, near his hamlet. “We expect her to get 1,000 in class XII and I hope she can get into MBBS,” he said. Unmindful of the scorching heat, he walked back to the college hoping to get attestation. He was turned away as he did not possess the original caste certificate. “I should have gone to Villupuram instead of coming to Chennai,” he said.
The resident medical officer and the chief medical officer who are authorised to attest the certificates were much in demand. At one point, ward assistants regulated the number of attestations a doctor would provide. “The doctor has signed over 20 certificates since morning. During an internal audit he would be pulled up,” an assistant in the CMO's office said. On the first day on Tuesday, 11,040 applications were issued at the 17 medical colleges across the State. In Chennai, in the three medical colleges, 3,138 applications were distributed, according to R.G. Sukumar, Secretary of the Medical Selection Committee.
He said he could not provide details about the number of applications distributed free of cost as many colleges had only given consolidated figures. “This is the first time we provided the online application facility. Many people were confused as there were several kinds of forms. Hence they chose to come in person. We are monitoring the situation and if need be we will print more forms,” he said. According to him since it was the first day of issue of application, there was a rush for forms. “The charm will fade in a couple of days.” Forms will be issued until May 31.
