A division bench of the Kerala High Court has ordered that admissions to the third batch of MBBS course of the Kochi Cooperative Medical College should not be made without prior concurrence from the court. The order was issued by the bench comprising Chief Justice J L Gupta and Justice M Ramachandran on a batch of petitions filed by second-year students of the college.
The bench directed the college authorities to produce the status report regarding the construction of buildings and laboratories of the college and details of the teachers and staff before Wednesday.
The court's decision is sure to effect the admissions to medical colleges in the state the coming academic year. The Kochi Cooperative Medical College is one among the nine medical colleges where admissions are being under the single window scheme. The staying of the admissions to the Kochi college will mean that the students will have be accommodated in remaining medical colleges which at present is impossible due to less seats. The Kerala government will have to approach the MCI as well the Kerala High Court to get an order that will enable it to raise the number of seats in the medical colleges so as to accommodate the students.
The said college has been under the limelight for quite some time following complaints from students of inadequate facilities and teaching staff besides the manner in which it was being managed. The said college was denied recognition by the Medical Council of India (MCI) owing to the inadequate facilities. The Kerala government on the other hand had promised all possible help including financial help to ensure that it was recognized by the MCI. However the same has not taken place so far.
The students had approached the court earlier requesting that they be allotted seats in other medical colleges recognized by the MCI, which the Kerala High Court declined. The latter then issued a directive to the Kerala government to provide for necessary assistance to upgrade the facilities and ensure that the college is recognized.