Several candidates who attended the medical counselling mop up round on Thursday protested claiming that some of the candidates were guilty of blocking seats.
Officials with the Karnataka Examinatons Authority (KEA) asked students to lodge a written complaint, but no details were submitted. The counselling process was finally conducted in the presence of police personnel who were called in to help maintain order.
Adding to the chaos, many students arrived late for the counselling,and KEA officials refused to allow them inside the hall.
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What, however, is a matter of concern is that KEA does not have the details of the medical seat allotment done by counselling agencies of other States. “The lack of a centralised database makes it difficult for us to cross-check if students have taken medical seats in other States as well. We, however have the details of seats chosen by candidates for the All-India quota counselling and students who have opted for seats in this round have been barred from counselling in the mop up round,” a KEA official said.
Such a system would help the authorities keep a check on seat blocking. Himani Choudhary, a student from Uttar Pradesh, said that many students with high ranks were appearing for counselling. “When candidates below 5,000 ranks are eligible to get government seats, why would they opt for private seats?” she said.
Aniket Tanwar from Haryana said that students protested as they alleged that some students were blocking seats in collusion with the college management. “These students have opted for seats in their respective States and are now coming for the mop up counselling in Karnataka to obtain seats here as well,” he said, adding that there was a need for the counselling agencies to collect the original documents of the students so that each student gets only one medical seat.
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However, KEA authorities said that it was not possible to ask for documents as the counselling by different seat allotment agencies was taking place simultaneously. “Many students would have blocked seats in a particular college, but will be hoping for an upgrade. We cannot insist that candidates produce the documents.”
Vinoth Priya R., Executive Director of KEA, said they had tightened measures this year to avoid seat blocking. “Only one guardian along with the candidate is given an entry pass. Photos of the candidate and the guardian had to be uploaded prior to the counselling,” she said.
Although several candidates were scouting the counselling centre to see if they could mutually swap seats, KEA authorities have warned against the same, and said they would complain to the police if they came across any such case.
As many 958 medical seats were available for the mop up round and at the end of the day 740 seats remained to be taken. The counselling was conducted for students who had obtained National Eligibility cum Entrance Test ranks from 1 to 1 lakh.