Some things just don’t change. Eight medical colleges belonging to the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges Association (KRLMPCA) are under the scanner for allegedly diverting unfilled minority seats in the MBBS course to the management quota.
A minority group or trust is permitted to establish a medical college in Karnataka only if 65 to 75 per cent of the seats are set aside for students belonging to that religious or linguistic minority. The rules state that if there aren’t enough minority students even after continuous advertisements inviting applications, the remaining seats will have to be surrendered to the government.
“Till last year, minority colleges usurped the unfilled MBBS seats, shifted them to the management quota and ended up making them payment seats,” said former Kuvempu University Vice-Chancellor P Venkataramaiah, who monitored the process.
A repeat of this seems to be happening this year though the Karnataka State Professional Colleges Admission Monitoring Committee — headed by Venkataramaiah — had recommended action against such colleges.
According to one estimate, nearly 500 seats are being diverted to the management quota this year. Last year, each seat in such institutions was priced between `40 and `60 lakh. “This year, the price of a payment seat is in the range of `50 to `70 lakh. This is apart from other miscellaneous fees that are charged,” a highly-placed source said.
The system is rigged in favour of the institutions, an official said on condition of anonymity. “In the case of some communities, there is no way one can find the required number of eligible candidates.”
A senior officer said the errant institutions will temporarily lose their ‘minority’ status after they complete the admission process for 2013-14 “in the interest of students.”
A high-power committee headed by the principal secretary of higher education examined these institutions, the official said. “The proceedings of the committee have been submitted to the Medical Education Department who have been urged to take stringent administrative action.”
“A new set of rules detailing the seat matrix, the percentage of unfilled seats which have to be surrendered to the government and the implications of flouting government orders have been given to the department,” he added.
Venkataramaiah said he had recommended that the recognition and status of such colleges be withdrawn. “Show-cause notices for violation of government orders were issued to these institutions,” he added.
Shafi Ahmed, secretary, KRLMPCA said the association had not received any communication from the Higher Education Department regarding the suspension of status.