JOIN USGovt's slow action on 2006 Act clouds PG medical admissions
The delay by the government in deciding the parameters of enforcing the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006, will have a strong bearing on admissions to postgraduate medical courses, which are due next month.
The utter lack of clarity on the government’s part has left the colleges in the lurch too. Neither the seat matrix nor the fee structure can be determined unless there is clarity on enforcement of the Act. The fee for PG medical courses (MD, MS) is determined based on that of the MBBS programme. Put simply, unless a decision is taken on the fee structure for undergraduate courses, PG admissions cannot begin.
While the government decision is pending, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has already announced the schedule for document verification for admission to PG medical courses (from March 12 onwards). The Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK), too, is awaiting the government’s decision in this regard.
The first round of counselling for PG medical admissions has to begin on April 15 (as per an order of the Supreme Court). Students must be intimated at least a month in advance so that they can make travel plans for the counselling. That leaves the COMEDK with just five days to announce the schedule of the PG counselling. COMEDK Chief Executive A S Srikanth told Deccan Herald that the consortium could start its counselling only after the KEA counselling began its own.
Minister of State for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil’s assurance that seat matrix would be announced next week appears unlikely to be fulfilled. Managements of unaided colleges are not only unhappy with the seat-sharing arrangement proposed by the government but have also challenged the legal sanctity of such an arrangement. Colleges are looking for forward to conducting admissions this academic year as per the Act which allows them to determine their own fees. Besides, they can make admissions through the COMEDK without having to share seats with the government.