BANGALORE: Those aspiring to pursue Ayurveda and Homeopathy courses may be forced to take up other courses this year as the colleges offering such courses in the state are yet to receive affiliation renewal for 2014-15.
According to information from the State Ayush Department, the concerned committee of the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) has not yet inspected the colleges offering Ayurveda and Homeopathy courses. “The committee is expected to visit the colleges by July-end and we will be able to send the seat matrix to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) only after the visit,” a department source told Express.
An official from KEA said they had contacted the Ayush Department after finalising the revised counselling schedule, but are yet to receive a reply.
If the CCIM committee visits the colleges in July, the counselling will be possible only in September and candidates will be under pressure to go for other courses. “Students cannot wait till September. They may have to choose other available courses and then appear for counselling for Indian System of Medicine (ISM) and Homeopathy courses,” a KEA official said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered the completion of the admission process for all professional courses by July 30 — an impossibility in this case.
The KEA official said this had happened last year as well. The Ayush Department had sent the seat matrix only by the end of August and counselling was held in September. By then, many students had joined other courses. “Being the authority in charge, it is our duty to conduct counselling when we get the seat matrix. But as document verification is on and option entry will begin on June 15, one should think of the students’ interests,” he added.
According to official data, there are 76 colleges in the state which offer undergraduate ISM and Homeopathy courses. Of these, six are government colleges, five aided and 65 private-unaided. The number of seats available is 3,890, of which 700 fall in KEA’s government quota.
THIS HAPPENED IN 2013 TOO
The delay in counselling for the 2013 Common Entrance Test (CET) had forced many students to opt for engineering and dental courses. And those who got selected for Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy seats in September had a hard time getting fee reimbursements. “Those who had secured seats in government colleges got the refunds immediately. But some of the private colleges harassed the students by not giving back their original documents,” a KEA source said.
THE BUSY BABUS OF AYUSH DEPT
The authorities of the Ayush Department are busy with teacher transfers. The director of the department was not available for comment but other officials said they are currently busy dealing with transfer counselling.