BENGALURU – In a significant development for private medical colleges in Karnataka, the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) has mandated that 17 institutions surrender an equivalent number of MBBS seats from their Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota to the state government quota for the current academic year. This directive is in response to a Karnataka High Court order issued on April 25.
The controversy traces back to 2018, when allegations surfaced that several private medical colleges were involved in seat blocking practices. In an attempt to address these issues, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) took decisive action against students who had secured seats through questionable means. The university refused to approve their admissions and barred them from participating in exams. Consequently, affected students sought relief from the court.
The Karnataka High Court, while allowing the students to sit for their exams, decided to penalize the implicated colleges. The court’s judgment stipulated that these institutions should surrender an equal number of NRI seats to the state quota in the subsequent academic year as a form of restitution.
In line with this order, the DME has instructed the colleges to surrender a total of 212 MBBS seats. These seats, once relinquished, will be incorporated into the state government’s seat matrix, which is yet to be finalized by the DME. The DME has also directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to ensure compliance by excluding these seats from the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) counselling process.
According to the DME directive, the colleges must provide an undertaking that they will adhere to transparency and fairness in the admissions process. They are required to ensure that all admissions are based solely on merit and to avoid any attempts at seat blocking or manipulation. Non-compliance with these directives could result in further punitive measures, including additional reductions in the number of seats allocated to the colleges.
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“The approval of admissions for the petitioners will be contingent upon the medical colleges surrendering and transferring seats from the 20% management/NRI quota to the state merit quota for the upcoming academic year,” stated the order. “This transfer must be completed in accordance with the guidelines established by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA).”
The order represents a significant shift in how MBBS seats are allocated, aiming to address longstanding concerns about transparency and fairness in medical college admissions. By reallocating these NRI seats to the state quota, the DME hopes to ensure a more equitable distribution of medical education opportunities.
The 17 affected colleges are now tasked with complying with the court’s directive and ensuring that their admission processes meet the stipulated standards of transparency. The outcome of this directive will likely set a precedent for how medical admissions are handled in the future, particularly in terms of addressing issues related to seat allocation and admission fairness.
As the DME and NMC work to implement the court’s order, all eyes will be on the affected colleges to see how they respond to the mandate and whether it will lead to a more transparent and merit-based admission process in the state’s medical institutions.
