Bengaluru: For the first time since 2003, the state will have common single admission counselling for all MBBS and BDS seats, including those in the management and Non Resident India (NRI) quota both in government and private colleges and deemed universities this year.
Acting on the Supreme Court's direction all state governments have been alerted to fill up the MBBS and BDS seats through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) ranking for undergraduate students, according to Medical Council of India (MCI) sources.
Post graduate seats, including those in the management and NRI quota seats in state medical colleges and deemed universities, have already been filled up through online seat allotment by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA). According to sources, the KEA is again expected to be given the task of allotting seats online for MBBS and BDS courses, and it could begin the process in mid -June. "We will hold discussions with the private medical colleges and deemed universities over the process and KEA will be notified as the nodal agency on MCI directions," explained an officer monitoring the developments.
But what is worrying the students is the huge increase in the fee for all- India, management and NRI quota seats. "This happened for the PG seats as well. A few colleges charged upto Rs 95 lakhs a year for a few courses taking the course fee to over Rs 2 crore. We suspect that colleges may force the state government to fix a huge fee structure," said Ms. Manjula Gunasheela, a student hoping for a medical seat.
She believes its important for the government to regulate the fee structure to stop the students from being fleeced by the colleges, but regrets that it has done very little so far.
