BENGALURU: There have been almost no takers for undergraduate medical seats offered under the Non Resident Indian (NRI) quota this year. Only 10 per cent of the seats under the quota have been filled so far.
Experts are citing demonetisation and NEET ranking for this unprecedented turn.
With only three days left for admissions to close on August 31, colleges are unsure if the rest of the seats will be filled.
Even after the mop-up round, which is the final round for allotment of seats for 2017-18, only 81 of the available 757 seats were filled. The mop-up round concluded on August 27 while August 31 is the last date to fill all medical seats and complete admission procedure as per the Supreme Court’s directions. With 676 seats left, these are now being handed over to various medical colleges to be filled under management quota but colleges are unsure if it will be filled in three days.
According to authorities in the state medical education department, people didn’t want to pay the fee by DD and wanted to do so by cash. Dr Sachidanand, director, medical education department, said, “This trend is due to demonetisation. During the 2016 academic year, admissions to medical courses was through CET in the state but this year, it was done through NEET. Both demonetisation and NEET ranking are the major reasons for so many vacancies.”
“As the parents/candidate must pay the fee for the seat only through Demand Draft and colleges not accepting cash even for management quota, it is reflecting in the number of seats getting filled,” said the principal of a city-based medical college.
Another principal said: “Now, as cash transactions are not allowed and people have to pay through DD, they will be answerable to Income Tax department. Also, most colleges have been charging between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh as fee per year. This is more than Rs 1.5 crore for the entire course. As a result, many are not coming forward to take up medical seats in NRI quota.”