Karnataka Medical Students and Young Doctors Association wants all institutional quota seats in private medical colleges to be given to students from the State. They fear that MBBS and DBS courses will go to students from other States.
At a press conference on Saturday, Association president Bharat Kumar said that as per National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) norms, private colleges across the country have to allot 15% of seats in MBBS and DBS courses for the all-India quota while the rest are to be allotted to students from the respective State.
“Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) has invited applications for over 2,000 seats under this quota from students all over India and allowed them to participate in the counselling process. This will deprive students from Karnataka. Over 46,000 students from the State, who have qualified in the NEET, are waiting for admission,” said Mr. Kumar.
To express its support, Karnataka Sanghatanegala Okkoota has organised a dharna on Monday at 11 a.m. in front of the Karnataka Examination Authority. Students and their parents are expected to take part in the demonstration.
‘It’s troublesome for outstation candidates’
The fifth day of the document verification process for admission to medical and dental colleges saw seat aspirants wait for hours for document verification.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority had invited candidates who had NEET ranks between 73,001 and 1,20,000 for verification. Many candidates, particularly outstation students, had to cancel their travel plans due to the delay.
The father of a candidate from Uttar Pradesh said that their session was scheduled to end by 1.15 p.m., but had not even started at 3 p.m.
All candidates had to wait outside the KEA office for their turn.
One student said, “Only once we go inside is there provision for seating and access to toilets.”
The KEA is yet to implement its plan for online verification of documents.
“Many candidates from other States have to spend a lot of time and money on travel to get their documents verified. This can be avoided if the process is carried out online,” Ayush S., an outstation candidate, said.
