Still no deal on seat sharing between govt. and colleges

State government caught in a bind

With just a few days left for the announcement of the seat matrix for admissions to undergraduate professional courses, the State government is not able to come to an agreement with the private managements of medical and engineering Colleges on consensual agreement over the sharing of the seats and finalising the fee structure for the ensuing academic year of 2015-16.

According to official information available with The Hindu , the State government was able to break the ice with the private managements running the medical colleges on seat sharing and fees. The main hurdle in reaching a final agreement is the insistence by private managements to the government to implement the directions of the Supreme Court in admitting the students to professional courses by bringing in force The Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act, 2006. The State government is now caught in a bind with the time running out to find a solution to the problem, since the implementation of the Act in the present form is not accepted by opposition parties and students organisations and the Bill to amend the Act is yet to be finalised.

Talks completed

When contacted, Minister of State for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil told

The Hindu here on Tuesday that the process of holding talks with the private managements running medical and engineering colleges has been completed.

Final decision

The outcome of these talks would be placed before a high-level meeting to be held in a couple of days, after the return of Higher Education Minster R.V. Deshpande from his foreign trip, in order to take a final decision on the issue.

“We would not allow the interests of the students and parents to suffer. Their interests would be protected in whatever decision is taken by the government. We will do everything to retain if not increase the share of the government seats in the medical and engineering colleges and also take a pro-student stand while fixing the fees for the professional courses,” Dr. Patil said.

A final decision on the issue would be taken “very soon”.

To a question on the Medical Council of India’s permission to admit students to six new Government Medical Colleges, Dr. Patil said that MCI teams have inspected the infrastructure facilities available in these colleges to start the courses. “We are confident of getting a favourable nod from MCI for admitting students in these colleges in the ensuing year,” he said. Dr. Patil said that the share of government seats in the medical colleges is likely to go up sharply this time due to the expected permission from the MCI for starting new medical colleges.