Flood victims arrive late, miss KEA counselling

There was no end to the misery for students from flood-hit Kodagu and Kerala as many aspiring for medical seats missed the offline counselling by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) on Friday.

Most of the students from these regions missed the second day of counselling since they were unable to make it to the centre on time due to lack of transport connectivity.

Though KEA had announced the offline counselling or the mop-up round well in advance, students cited many reasons for not making it to the centre on time.

Dhatri Chengappa from Madikeri told DH: “There was no power and internet in our locality, and we didn’t even have access to newspapers. So, the message was not conveyed to us. I got to know of the final round of counselling only on Wednesday. I somehow tried to make it to the centre on time, but due to lack of transportation back in Kodagu, I was late. By the
time I reached the centre, vacancies in top colleges were filled.”

DKS turns down request for help

The distraught students requested medical education minister D K Shivakumar, who visited the centre on Friday morning, to give them one last chance. However, the minister turned down their request, saying the state government cannot help it.

“It’s their personal problem. The government cannot interfere in the issue at this stage. Nobody has sent the government a request on this issue. Even if they submit a proposal, the government cannot do anything,” Shivakumar said.

The minister made a surprise visit to the KEA centre following reports of irregularities on the first day of counselling.

He monitored every step of the process to ensure there were no irregularities. Shivakumar also ordered KEA officials to take stern action if they come across any misconduct and irregularities by third parties.

Addressing the media, Shivakumar said: “There were reports of irregularities in allotment of government seats in private colleges. This process does not give a chance for such things. There is transparency in the KEA’s process and no such irregularities were found during my inspection. Every seat has been allotted to candidates legally.”