more-in A group of students staged a flash protest and squatted inside the counselling hall at the Omandurar Government Medical College here, the venue of post-graduate medical counselling, on Sunday. The candidates, who had been allotted seats in the online counselling for All-India Quota (AIQ) seats, were upset that despite getting high marks they were not allowed to participate in the counselling for colleges in their home state. Usually the State government conducts counselling immediately after the first round of counselling for AIQ seats. The process was delayed this year as a set of candidates, who had graduated from private medical institutions, went to court protesting against the State’s rule to award additional marks to candidates who served in government hospitals. On May 16, the Madras High Court ruled that candidates from urban health posts cannot be awarded extra marks. Following this, the Directorate of Medical Education released the merit list and counselling dates were announced. The protest on Sunday was against the merit list which excluded students who had been allotted seats under AIQ. Three groups of such students had sought a court directive to allow them to participate in the counselling for State quota seats. “The State should have conducted its first round of counselling after the first round of AIQ. They delayed it and we had to go for the second round of AIQ. We have higher scores than those participating in the counselling today but we are studying in other states,” complained a student. Some candidates with higher scores had been allotted seats in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and even Assam. “We are willing to pay the penalty of ?3 to ?5 lakh that the college has asked,” said a student, who had been admitted to a college in Tirupati. Selection Committee secretary G. Selvarajan said the students only had bonafide letters but not the original certificates and hence could not be allotted seats under the State quota. No original certificates The protesters had surrendered their original certificates to the colleges they had been admitted to. The protesters squatted in the counselling hall and stalled the admission process. They later left the hall after the police were brought in. On the first day of the counselling on Sunday, a total of 443 seats were allotted, including 29 in self-financing colleges. The Selection Committee had called 1,344 candidates for counselling. As many as 775 candidates have been allotted seats under AIQ. Of the total 569 candidates eligible for counselling only 500 participated and 57 candidates have been wait-listed.

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