NEET Row: Karnataka medical colleges make U-turn

The medical colleges in Karnataka changed their earlier stance on Tuesday, June 13, and unilaterally announced that they were ready to offer 85 per cent of their total seats (1,500 seats) to the State Government.

However, the offer made by the management had a catch.

What is the rider?

The Karnataka Professional Colleges’ Foundation, consisting of 12 medical colleges, has demanded a fee of Rs 4 lakhs seat per year for the seats offered.

What was the earlier stand of the medical colleges in the matter?

The medical colleges had threatened to surrender 40 per cent (700) of the government-quota seats to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) pool; 40 per cent was assigned for COMEDK quota and the remaining seats were meant for management/NRI quota.

What prompted the change in stand of the medical colleges?

According to The Hindu, government sources said that the U-turn is the result of colleges realising that under NEET they will get a lesser fee.

The rationale behind it being that ‘Before NEET, the colleges would get Rs. 60,000 per seat per annum for 700 government-quota seats. The fee for the remaining 800 seats under COMEDK would be Rs. 4.6 lakh per seat. If the government accepts their latest offer, they can get Rs. 4 lakh for each of the 1,500 seats’.

According to the sources, the U-turn was the result of various rounds of negotiations with the government over government-quota seats.

The standoff over medical seats has left hundreds of students on tenterhooks and has also resulted in a delay in the CET option entry process.

SOURCE: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/