Dileep V Kumar By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The mop-up counselling (spot admission) to fill vacant seats in MBBS course would not be conducted on the campus of Government Medical College (GMC),Thiruvananthapuram. Instead, the two-day spot admission, which would commence on Wednesday, would be conducted at Travancore International Convention Centre, Sports Hub (Greenfield stadium) at Kariavattom here, as per the decision of the Commissioner for Entrance Examination (CEE). The move has brought relief to the college authorities, as space constraints and work related to the GMC master plan have already choked the campus “We welcome the decision. Change in venue is an oft-repeated demand of students, faculty members, hospital authorities and patients as they are the ones who are at the receiving end of issues triggered by such activities. Considering the present condition of the campus, conducting the spot admission here would have only created chaos,” said an officer of the academic section of the GMC. The officer said for sometime now, the spot admission was conducted at the auditorium near the academic block which inconvenienced students and faculty members as they faced difficulty in carrying out their activities. This was because the whole campus would get crowded with candidates and their parents, the officer said. “The number of people who gather on the campus during spot admissions is beyond anyone’s imagination. The daily footfall of 30,000 on normal days gets doubled on such occasions. One also needs to consider the long line of vehicles on the campus during spot admissions and the hardships it creates for patients,” said the officer. GMC Hospital superintendent Dr M S Sharmad said the decision to conduct the spot admission outside the campus was a result of the representation he had given to the Director of Medical Education and CEE last year. “Every time a spot admission is conducted on the campus, patients, medical students and staff at the GMC as well as the candidates and parents have a harrowing time. Last year, the spot admission brought the entire campus to a standstill for two days. That was when we decided to urge the authorities concerned to spare the campus from the next counselling session,” said Sharmad. He said the large influx of people who arrived on the campus as part of mop-up counselling last year, led to heavy traffic blocks in arterial roads, affecting the timely arrival of patients at the casualty and the out-patient department. Citing the difficulties meted out by patients due to the spot admission, city-based human rights activists P K Raju had sought the Kerala Human Rights Commission’s intervention. It is learnt all these factors influenced the decision to shift the counselling venue this year. “Considering the hardships patients suffered due to spot admission, we decided to change the venue. We also considered the representations of medical college and hospital authorities,” said CEE A Geetha. She said since the new venue has enough parking space, besides toilets and potable water facilities, the candidates and parents were not likely to face any difficulty. Spot admission to be held on Wednesday and Thursday Candidates included in the Kerala state medical rank list published by CEE alone can participate in the spot admission Candidates admitted via all-India counselling cannot participate According to CEE, details of mop-up counselling for BDS to be notified later Mop-up counselling slip essential for participation

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