The Kerala Government which found itself in the dock over appointing relations of the ruling CPI(M) to various senior faculty positions in the State universities has shocked a well-qualified student by denying her admission to M Phil course despite her meeting all mandatory requirements.
Tara Meena Hari, who scored first rank in the entrance examination for the M.Phil clinical course in the State-run Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) has been denied admission to the prestigious course citing flimsy grounds.
Tara, who qualified as a lawyer from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, passed M A Psychology course from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
The prospectus issued by Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) and the IMHANS are silent about any kind of restrictions on the M A (Psychology) course from IGNOU. “I was told by the KUHS authorities that though I am a qualified student, they do not want to set a precedent of accepting distance learning students despite me emerging as the topper in the entrance examination,” Tara told The Pioneer.
P Krishnakumar, director, IMHANS said that Tara’s admission had been put on hold. He refused to elaborate the rationale behind the decision even as Tara is getting ready to move the High Court of Kerala to challenge the decision.
“If they wanted to keep the IGNOU qualified students from the course, they could have made it known in the prospectus itself. But denying a student admission after she emerged as the first rank holder in the entrance examination is injustice and unfair,” said M R Hari, Tara’s father.