MBBS admissions from today

PUDUCHERRY: The Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC) counselling for MBBS seats would begin in Puducherry on July 31. For the first time, a regional quota on 75 per cent seats would be available. As a prelude to the admission process, the CENTAC authorities published a revised merit list on Friday by including Puducherry region quota and ranking to the students under it.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Puducherry Parents-Students Affected by Region-wise Reservation wants the adoption of vertical reservation within each regional allocation as per Supreme Court directions.

Despite hopes of securing approval for admissions to Puducherry Government Medical College, the government has decided to start counselling to seven self-financing colleges. The counselled students would get time till August 20 for remitting fee - a move that could help students in case the government college secures admission from Board of Governors of Medical Council of India (BOGMCI). This decision was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister V Vaithilingam on Friday after instances of private colleges refusing to refund the collected fee were cited.

“Now the students will not have to forfeit the money if they get an opportunity to join government medical college,” CENTAC convenor V Prithviraj told Express.

On Madras High Court directions to carry out inspection at the government medical college and give report within 14 days, the BOGMCI would reinspect the college next week. However, the counselling could not be initiated before August 17. In any case, the students have to wait till August 17 or 19 for counselling. Prithviraj said that further postponement was unlikely as the wait so far has been too long.

SRI VENKATESWARA GETS NOD: Sri Venkateswara Medical College and Research Centre has received green light for admitting students in the current year following a high court directive issued on Friday, official sources in the government said. The CENTAC counselling would be taken up for 265 seats in seven self-financing medical colleges. This includes 261 seats as in the previous year. Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences-35 seats, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute-36, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital-54, Sri Lakshminaraya Institute of Medical Sciences-36, Vinayaga Mission Medical College-24, Arupadai Veedu Medical College-24 and Sri Venkateswara Medical College and research Centre-53 seats make up this number.