Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday welcomed the approval for a government medical college in Wayanad, calling it a long-cherished dream that has come true.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) granted clearance on Tuesday for two new government medical colleges in Kerala, located in the Wayanad and Kasaragod districts.

“The earnest requests of lakhs of people of Wayanad, sustained efforts by Rahul Gandhi and all our own efforts to expedite the matter have borne fruit,” Priyanka wrote on X.

She expressed hope that the state government would take all necessary measures to expedite construction and make the college operational as soon as possible.

“Let us all work together towards the shared goal of development and progress of those who need it most. Congratulations to all my brothers and sisters who have been waiting for this moment for a very long time,” Priyanka said.

Both Wayanad and Kasaragod medical colleges have been approved to admit 50 MBBS students each from the current academic year.

Centre tightens rules on scribes for disabled candidates in competitive exams
New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) The Centre has tightened the rules on the use of scribes in competitive examinations for persons with disabilities (PwDs), making it mandatory for examining bodies to prepare their own vetted scribe pools within two years and phasing out the widely used "own scribe" system flagged for malpractice.

The revised guidelines, issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, aim to ensure fairness, transparency, and integrity in exams while aligning them with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

The framework applies to all competitive written public examinations linked to jobs and admissions in professional and technical courses. It incorporates Supreme Court directives and aligns with relevant Acts.

The guidelines emphasise that candidates should be encouraged to attempt exams independently with the help of assistive technologies such as software-enabled laptops, Braille, large print, recording devices, screen readers, or speech-to-text software.

This approach will reduce reliance on scribes while preparing candidates for independent functioning in workplaces and professional courses. One key change is phasing out privately arranged scribes, identified as a source of malpractice.

Examining bodies must create their own pools of trained and supervised scribes within two years. Candidates can bring their own scribes only in exceptional cases until then.

Scribes' eligibility is tightened: qualifications must be two to three academic years below the minimum for the exam, they cannot be candidates themselves, and must have no conflicts of interest.

Candidates with functional limitations in writing will receive compensatory time of at least 20 minutes per hour. Exam centres must be fully accessible, and special provisions will be arranged for neurodiverse candidates and those with chronic health conditions.

Grievance redressal systems, training in disability etiquette, and annual sensitisation for invigilators are mandated. Exam authorities must collect feedback on scribes and ensure secure handling of personal and medical data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Officials failing to comply, or malpractice by candidates or scribes, may attract penalties.