Karnataka: Private Medical colleges oppose common counselling

Bengaluru: Government and private colleges have failed to meet on common grounds on the issue of common counselling for allocation of seats in medical and dental colleges of the state . Minister for Medical Education, Dr. Sharan Singh Patil, in an effort to bring about a consensus between the two held a discussion with representatives of private medical colleges, however, the effort seems to have gone a waste. The idea of common counselling was mooted by the Medical Council of India in a circular to the government recently.

The government's suggestion at the initiation of the MCI, that the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) carry out common counselling has for the present fallen on deaf ears with private medical colleges. The MCI's proposal had been initiated keeping in mind the common National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) conducted for entrance to medical and dental colleges by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The Minister despite disagreements did made earnest efforts to have private colleges agree to the proposal, stating that it was meant to benefit students and was being carried out in various other states, as well. However, the private college representatives declined to accept the suggestion.

Last year a similar attempt of common counselling was made by the government for the All India Quota seats, based on NEET rankings.The private colleges had even then opposed the move, resulting in KEA, Comed-K, religious and linguistic minority colleges and six deemed universities conducting individual counselling. Students were made to appear for each counselling separately.

The explanation given by college representatives at that time was that they wanted to have control over their counselling sessions, at least. They said they would have discussions among themselves before deciding on the issue. The private college representatives had at that time spoken about another meeting between the government and themselves to be held soon before a decision was taken.