The addition of 900 undergraduate government medical seats in the matrix now depends on the Medical Council of India (MCI), whose representatives inspected “yet-to-be completed buildings” of six new colleges recently, while the State government is hoping that this “progress” will be considered by the council.
The State government had reapplied for permission to start these colleges this year after it failed to get the MCI’s nod last academic year when the construction of buildings for some colleges had not commenced.
“The team was happy with the progress in construction. But its reports are ultimately fact-based. So we don’t know what the team has decided. The reports will also be discussed by the Executive Committee of the MCI and a verdict should be out in a month,” a Medical Education Department official said.
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Claiming that the requisite three-floor buildings were ready and procurement of equipment had been completed, department officials said compared to last year, when they had “no defence”, this year they were better prepared. “In the end, we are still armed by the option to file a compliance report to the Union government,” an official said.
As the MCI decision is awaited in a month, meritorious students are staring at a smaller pool of government seats. Last academic year, a part of the seats under the government quota had been culled out to be reserved for students qualifying under the Hyderabad Karnataka quota, reducing opportunities for students from other regions.
Adding more government seats will become important in the context of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act, 2006 being implemented. In its present form, those writing the Common Entrance Test (CET) will be eligible for admissions only in government colleges. Those who do not qualify for the highly subsidised government seats will have to seek admissions in private colleges, which will have their own fee structure.
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