KOCHI: The Kerala Private Medical College Managements Association has rejected the Admission Supervisory Committee's report, which has nullified the entrance test conducted by the colleges, saying the report is biased.

"We do not accept the report," association secretary George Paul told The Hindu on Friday. "I have yet to get a copy of the report, but on the basis of media reports it appears that the Mohammed Committee's report is arbitrary and unfair."

He said the association would seek a judicial review of the commission's report and would question the neutrality of the committee in the High Court. The petition would be moved next week.

Mr. Paul said the committee was not neutral or objective. "It was an LDF Committee and its members were partisan," he said. He pointed out that four members of the committee were Government officers working under an Education Minister who was all out to `conquer and defeat' the college managements. He said that when the committee was constituted the association did not want to question its character, as the managements did not want to give the impression that they were ducking. The norms set by the Supreme Court were not followed while the committee was constituted.

Mr. Paul said it was sad that the report came at a time when the Government and the managements had almost clinched a deal. An agreement, which spelled out ways to resolve the issue on a short-term basis as well as long-term, had been drafted. The short-term agreement was that 50 per cent of the admissions would be on the fee determined by the Government. The long-term one was on the minority issue, the admission process and higher fees. It was a win-win agreement, and if it had been signed this year's admission would have gone on smoothly.

It was just a few hours before the deal was set to be signed that that the committee came out with its report that pronounced the entrance tests invalid.

Asked about the Government's offer of talks and consensus, Mr. Paul said: "There is no point in talking; the Government on the one hand is offering talks and on the other it is trying to blackmail us." Anyhow, the association was not going to take any initiative, he added.

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