Seat Sharing In Private Medical Colleges: Karnataka High Court issues notice to state

Bengaluru: A notice was issued to the state government by the Karnataka High Court on Thursday, in response to a writ filed by the Association of Minority Professional Colleges in Karnataka questioning the government’s action of seat allotments to post-graduate medical courses contrary to the Post-Graduate Medical Education (Amendment) Regulations 2018.

A division bench comprising Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice Aravind Kumar, in its interim order has said that the seat allotments by the State government through the Karnataka Examinations Authority will be subject to the petition’s outcome.

The Association, in its petition, has said that State government could not go ahead in filling up 75% of the total seats in accordance with the consensual agreement signed with the Association because the term of the agreement had ended. The agreement, the petition stated had ceased to exist following the Medical Council of India’s enactments effective from April 5, 2018.

Till such time that amended regulations were notified, there was no other MCI statute or regulations regarding the seat sharing pattern between the State and private colleges. The agreement allowed private colleges a 75-25 seat-sharing ratio by allowing private medical colleges to fill up 15% seats under the NRI quota and another 10% seats in the higher fee structure category reports the Hindu.

With the notification of regulation on MCI seat sharing providing 50-50 seat-sharing ratio between the State government and the college management, based on the NEET ranking, the State government should have made allotments only for 50% of the seats during the first round of counselling held from April 18, the Association claimed.

The writ also pointed out that the government had not responded to the plea of the Association to adhere to the new regulations. It also said that the second round of counselling has been postponed after the authorities received a communiqué from Association.