சபாஷ் சி.எம்.சி. Proud of You . . .

இருபத்தி ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளாக அருகில் இருந்து பார்ப்பதாலும்  கிடைத்த ஏராளமான அனுபவங்கள் மூலமாகவும் வேலூர் சி.எம்.சி மருத்துவமனை மீது எனக்கு எப்போதுமே நல்ல மரியாதை உண்டு.

"நீட்" முறையை ஏற்க மறுத்து இந்த ஆண்டு மாணவர் சேர்க்கையை நிறுத்தி வைத்துள்ள சி.எம்.சி மருத்துவமனை நிர்வாகத்தின் மீது அந்த மரியாதை இன்னும் அதிகமாகவே உயர்ந்து விட்டது.

"மதிப்பெண்களை மட்டும் நாங்கள் பார்ப்பதில்லை. அதையும் தாண்டிய சமூகக் கடமைகள் எங்களுக்கு உண்டு. "நீட்" மூலம் வருகிற மாணவர்களால் அது சாத்தியமில்லை. ஆகவே நாங்கள் இந்தாண்டு மாணவர் சேர்க்கையை நிறுத்தி வைத்துள்ளோம்" என்ற அவர்களின் அறிவிப்பு  பாராட்டுதலுக்குரியது.

ஹிந்து நாளிதழில்  ஆங்கிலத்தில் வந்த  செய்தியை கீழே பகிர்ந்து கொண்டுள்ளேன்.

The institution’s decision is consequent to being forced to give up its own admission process and take students through single window counselling, based on NEET marks.

The Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore has decided to suspend admissions to its MBBS and super specialities courses for 2017-2018 as it is unable to follow its established admission process after the NEET became operational. 

It will admit just one candidate in MBBS and one student in super specialities owing to prior commitments. As a result, 99 seats in MBBS and 61 in the super specialities will not be filled, the CMC’s Council decided on Saturday.

The move is seen as a consequence of the post-NEET scenario where the government decreed that all admissions to medical courses would be filled up through single window counselling on the basis of NEET marks.

The MBBS course will be run for a single student, a Central Government nominee who happens to be the son of a martyr this year, and a single candidate will be admitted to the DM Cardiology, as mandated by a Supreme Court order earlier this year, explained Sunil Chandy, Director, CMC.

PG admissions to 182 courses were filled up as per usual admission process as the prescription of single window counselling came at the eleventh hour by which time the College had completed its admissions, and as per the Notification issued by the National Board of Examinations. The Supreme Court ratified this in favour of the college, Solomon Sathishkumar, principal-in-charge, CMC, said.

“The Council was perturbed by the position taken by the MCI and the Government of India to whittle down or obliterate the benefit of Article 30 (1) to a proven institution,” says Krishna Srinivasan, senior lawyer who has appeared for the college over several decades.

Article 30(1) guarantees minorities, both religious and linguistic, the right “to establish and administer educational institutions” of their choice. This right, incidentally, has been recognised from the year 1957 by a series of judgments of the Supreme Court, including the landmark decision rendered by the eleven-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the Pai case.
Mr Srinivasan said, “We have challenged the Regulations prescribing common counselling for both UG and PG courses in the Supreme Court, in which we have also filed two interlocutory petitions, one for under graduate admissions, and another for admission to super specialities. In October, the Court will decide the validity of our plea to make our own admissions.”

“We are not happy to do this. It will also translate to a deficit in our frontline patient management systems. It is a sacrifice we are making. But we have to judge a student by our objective of the role we envision for our candidates,” Dr. Chandy said.

“The government defines merit as marks alone. For the kind of doctors we need, we have to assess suitability criteria, including commitment to serving the public, leadership skills, and ability to work as part of our team, enshrined in our three-day selection process. This does not come through in the current admission system.”

Thomas Samuel Ram, CMC Council secretary, said, “We want to run the course, but our hands are tied. Ours is a system that has been recognised and even commended by several judgements as fair and non-exploitative. The fees (₹3000 per annum) is heavily subsidised by patient care.” He added that the assessment of a candidate is against a particular role the college expects him or her to perform.

Out of the 100 seats available for the MBBS course, 85 seats are reserved for the minority community, in this case, Christians and 15 seats are in the open category. Students admitted under the minority category are required to serve in one of the mission hospitals run by the society for two years after completing the course. 

“Even the other students are inspired, and are glad for opportunities to serve in remote locations. Ninety per cent of our students continue to stay and serve,” said Dr. Chandy. He explained that students come from all over the country, and the heavily-subsidised education allows them students from different backgrounds to take up a course. In some instances, mission hospitals support under privileged children with aptitude from their areas to study at CMC. The history of the college is replete with stories of students returning home to establish medical facilities, in some instances, for the first ever time, he adds, quoting some examples.

Mr. Srinivasan pointed out that the CMC’s admission system has been in place since 1946 and has been enriched through inputs from experts in different fields. In 1993 when CMC was asked to surrender 50% of its seats pursuant to the Unnikrishnan judgement which framed a scheme for admission to professional colleges, the court recognised the relevance of CMC’s admission process and carved it out as an exception.

 

"நீட்"டைத் திணிக்கும் மத்தியரசுக்கு  சி.எம்.சி மருத்துவமனை கொடுத்திருக்கிற சவுக்கடி இம்முடிவு.

வழக்கம் போல் காவிப்பட்டாளம், மத ரீதியான தாக்குதலை தொடங்கி விட்டது. அப்படிப்பட்ட பிரச்சாரம் நடக்கும் என்பதை அவர்களும் நிச்சயம் அறிந்திருப்பார்கள். அப்படியிருந்தும் துணிச்சலான முடிவெடுத்த அனைவருக்கும் என் வாழ்த்துக்களும் பாராட்டுக்களும்.