The revised consensual agreement reached on Thursday between the State government and Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation has come as a shocker for students aspiring to become doctors.
Now, the fee for medical education in a private college under government quota stands at Rs. 70,000 a year, while that for a seat under the COMEDK quota is Rs. 5.75 lakh.
It was only after the government nod for a huge hike in fee that private colleges agreed to give 40 per cent of their medical seats and 35 per cent of their dental seats to the government quota. The government had signed a consensual agreement with a 10 per cent fee hike in April, but eventually bowed to private medical college managements’ demand for a further hike.
NEET fallout?
Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil claimed that the hike was “inevitable” as private colleges had threatened that they would fill their seats through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) rankings which would put students in the State (who have already written the Common Entrance Test) at a disadvantage as they would have fewer seats.
The steepest increase, however, is for dental stream as the cost of a seat under the COMEDK quota has increased by 41.8 per cent compared with the previous year. The fee for a BDS seat under the government quota has increased by 28.5 per cent compared with the previous year.
The only consolation, however, is that the number of medical seats under the CET pool may now be around 2,491.
Only two rounds
As per the agreement between the colleges and the State government, only two rounds of counselling can be conducted for medical and dental seats. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) used to earlier conduct a second extended round to fill vacant seats.
Dr. Patil also said the option entry for medical seats was likely to begin on Friday. The KEA is, however, still to announce the fresh calendar of events.
Several student organisations said they would launch a protest against this steep hike in medical education fee.
Option entry for medical seats likely to begin today, says Medical Education Minister
