Karnataka govt puts lid on seat-blocking at private colleges

In a bid to end seat-blocking practice at private colleges offering professional courses, especially medical colleges, the state government has decided to do away with the ‘seat surrender’ process after mop-up round, from 2020-21 academic year.

The government is also in the process of considering the recommendations made by an expert committee, including a hefty penalty on students who choose to surrender the seats allotted to them.

An expert committee of the state government, headed by the vice-chancellor of the Rajiv Gandhi University (RGUHS), submitted a detailed report to the government three weeks ago and recommended against the option to surrender seats after mop-up round.

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Medical Education Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said the government will accept the report and implement the recommendations. “But I will discuss with the officials whether these recommendations need to be placed before the Cabinet for approval or can be implemented at the departmental level itself,” he said.

RGUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr Sachidanand said the committee has recommended against the seat surrendering option, “but if there are any genuine cases, they shall be verified properly before allowing candidates to surrender seats”. The committee has also recommended a hefty penalty on students who surrender seats after the final round.

The seats surrendered after the mop-up round get credited to the account of individual colleges, allowing options for seat-blocking. Generally, the students who get seats under all-India quota block seats even under the state quota by taking money from agents who are hand in glove with private colleges.

“Such students usually surrender their seats after the mop-up round. Our intention is to arrest the trend by imposing a heavy penalty,” a member of the committee said.

The seat-blocking scam came to the fore a few months ago when Income Tax sleuths conducted back-to-back raids on some private medical colleges in Karnataka.