Sports quota seats: Students seek level playing field

Several students who excelled in sports and hoped to gain a seat in engineering and medical college under sports quota are feeling betrayed as their names do not figure in the CET's eligiblity list despite meeting all the requirements.

Two of the affected students have filed a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court alleging that there several irregularities in preparation of eligibility list.

Vinutha (name changed), one of the students, said even though she had won a gold medal in a Karate tournament, her name has not been added in the sports quota eligibility list.

"I bagged the medal in a tournament conducted by the All India Karate-Do Federation. This finds a mention in the list of games and sports events specified by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). However, I was told that I am not eligible as the Federation has not been recognised. Why was it mentioned in the brochure then," she questioned.

She said that she had lost an opportunity as the first round of list was out for medical, dental and engineering courses and that the best of options would not be available now.

This student who has a rank of 2 lakh said that names of several others who have a rank of over 10 lakh appears in eligibility list.

Vinutha was among the several hundreds of students who staged a protest at KEA over the new proposal that a few tournaments mentioned in the brochure would not be considered following a letter by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports. KEA, which was considering the proposal, decided to reject it following the protests.

Speaking to DH, Vinutha's father claimed that applications of several other students who staged the protest were not considered citing technical reasons.

Rohini (name changed), a student from Dharwad, said that her name had been excluded from the list though she was qualified for it. "We went there twice. I was told that karate was not being considered this year. Multiple calls to the helplines went unanswered. We were unable to travel to Bengaluru again and I have lost an opportunity because of this," she added.