The first day of general counselling began on Friday with quite a few upset parents demanding that their children be allowed to participate. These candidates had already obtained seats through counselling conducted by the Director General of Health Services, for seats in deemed universities and those under all India quotas.
The candidates and their parents blamed the State for delaying the counselling which forced them to take seats in deemed medical colleges.
A parent said, “My son is a topper, yet he has not been allowed to participate in the counselling.” Another parent said, “It was the State government that delayed the counselling. So it should ensure our children are permitted to participate now.”
Parents waved a notification from the Central government demanding the State review its decision. Health secretary J. Radhakrishnan, who distributed the allotment order to the top 10 candidates admitted to the government medical colleges in the State, said, “We are following the court verdict in the Dar-us-Salaam case. We went back to the DGHS and sought clarification after several parents approached us. They said the State cannot overturn the Centre’s rules.”