R. Sujatha

Chaos at Kilpauk Medical College as issue of application forms begins

Counters had to be closed thrice to manage the crowd

The Government Kilpauk Medical College witnessed chaotic scenes on the first day of the issue of application forms for MBBS/BDS courses here on Tuesday.

With the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) being the criterion for admission, the State government would conduct counselling for management quota seats as well. The Directorate of Medical Education had printed different prospectuses and application forms for management quota seats and government quota seats.

Candidates have to produce a demand draft for Rs. 500 to obtain the application form. Many parents complained that they were initially told to produce a combined demand draft covering both kinds of application forms, only to find out at the venue that it was a mistake. Parents and aspirants from near and afar arrived at the medical college as early as 6.30 a.m. There was a huge rush at 10 a.m. when the counters opened for distribution of application forms. During the course of the day, they were closed thrice in order to manage the crowd.

Matters were made worse when the officials found that a sheet was missing from the management quota application forms. “The applications contain OMR sheets. Usually, the forms come as a package, making them easy to distribute. This time, the forms included several loose sheets and we had to bring in staff to arrange them in covers,” said an official.

Also, the government had supplied only 1,000 forms for government quota seats and 50 forms for management quota seats. An official said that when the crowd became unmanageable, tokens were issued. The personnel had issued 100 tokens when there were only 50 forms.

Application forms would be issued for 10 days, including the intervening weekends. The last date for issue of forms is July 7 and the last date to submit filled-in forms is July 8. More forms would be printed if need be.