169 students block seats, join elsewhere

Karnataka Examinations Authority warns them of strict action

The seat blocking issue seems to be getting murkier by the day. As many as 169 students who had taken undergraduate seats through Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) are found to have secured admission elsewhere.

Shockingly, at least 13 of them even collected admission orders from KEA after paying the stipulated fees.

But they did not join the colleges where they were allotted seats. They preferred colleges outside KEA.

The information emerged after the KEA wrote to registrars of National Institute of Technology, Surathkal (NIT-K), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and Bangalore, and Karnataka Veterinary, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Sciences Universities (KVAHSV), Bidar and Bangalore, on August 5, seeking the list of students admitted there this year. The disclosure has forced the KEA to warn these students of strict penal action that might jeopardise their further studies.

The KEA Executive Director, Rashmi V Mahesh, regretted that the students were holding on to the seats despite having joined elsewhere.

According to KEA, 47 students took seats at National Institute of Technology, Surathkal (NIT-K), 35 at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and 87 at veterinary colleges at Bidar, Shimoga, Hassan, and Bangalore.

Of 47 students who joined B Tech I at NIT, one had paid the fees to KEA on July 31 for a BE seat in Electronics and Communication branch at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore.

Besides, 28 students who joined NIT are found to have retained their KEA seats without surrendering them.

Reputed colleges

These students, KEA said, had exercised choice 2 under which students retain their seats and can take part in the next round of allotment.

Many of these seats were allotted seats in reputable colleges such as RV College of Engineering, BMS College of Engineering, PES Institute of Technology, MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, etc.

Nine NIT students did not take any action on their KEA seat as they failed to accept, retain, or cancel them.

Of 35 students who took BSc (Agriculture or Forestry) course at UAS, Dharwad, one had collected the admission order for KEA seat, 27 had retained their seats, three cancelled their seats and one did not take any action.

Of 87 students who joined Bachelor of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (BVSC&AH) course besides taking KEA seats, 11 had collected admission orders for the latter. Forty others were found to have retained their KEA seats while wishing to take part in the next round of KEA counselling. Only 14 students cancelled their seats whereas two others did not exercise any choice.

Deadline

Students who exercised choice 1 (accepted KEA seats) have been given time till 6 pm, August 17, to surrender them. But if they want to keep them, they need to surrender seats selected outside KEA.

They would need to show the proof of surrender by producing the original surrender letters. Students who remain adamant will lose the fees paid by them, said KEA