Govt not to revoke suspension of seven minority colleges

The State government has refused to budge on its stand on the suspension of ‘linguistic minority’ status of seven medical colleges accused of irregularities in seat allotment.

At a meeting with representatives of the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges’ Association (KRLMPCA) here on Monday, the government made it clear that the suspension could not be revoked, sources said.

But it gave them some respite: adopt COMEDK seat-sharing formula in their institutions. This way, however, the government’s share of seats in the linguistic minority colleges would increase by 15 per cent.

At present, linguistic minority colleges share 25 per cent seats with the government while the non-minority unaided colleges under COMEDK give away 40 per cent seats to it.
Minority institutions have been accused of failing to give seats to students from minority communities and instead filling them under their management quota.

Vacant seats meant for reservation ought to have been given back to the government through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).

Inquiry report awaited

Meanwhile, the government is waiting for the committee headed by principal secretary of higher education, Rajneesh Goel, to submit an inquiry report on the alleged irregularities in allotment of seats.

The colleges concerned have sought 30 days to reply to the show-cause notices issued to them. The colleges are Rajarajeshwari Medical College, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, MVJ Medical College and Research Hospital (all in Bangalore), Srinivasa Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, AJ Institute of Medical Sciences (both in Mangalore) and Navodaya Medical College, Raichur.

An official in the higher education department said: “The linguistic minority status of these colleges has certainly been suspended. Based on the inquiry report, it will be decided whether the status should be cancelled or not.”

A member of KRLMPCA told Deccan Herald on the condition of anonymity that the association was yet to decide on the proposal. “The discussion hardly lasted 15 minutes. They proposed the COMEDK seat-sharing formula as an alternative. We told them we’ll get back.”