Comed set to decide on admissions

BANGALORE: With the Supreme Court making it mandatory for managements to admit students on the basis of a common entrance test for its 50 per cent quota, private colleges in Karnataka have sought legal opinion on whether they should conduct another test or follow the CET.
"We do not know if we have to conduct another test to admit students or give them seats based on the CET conducted by the government.We have sought legal opinion to avoid further confusion and delay in the admission process. The opinion is expected to come by Monday," management representatives affiliated to the consortium of medical, engineering and dental colleges (COMED) told The Times of India on Friday.
The five-judge Bench of the SC stipulated a 50:50 seat sharing formula between the government and managements. Banning the capitation fee, the SC said all admissions to the management quota should be transparent and on the basis of an entrance test.
COMED has convened a meeting of all its members on Monday to take a final decision on the admission process for its share of seats and also the fee structure. After a decision is taken, the admission process would be initiated in a day or two.
COMED had invited applications from students but had staggered the admission process after it challenged the Karnataka high court order in the SC. The high court order had finalised 75:25 seat sharing arrangement between the government and managements.
"A decision will also be taken on whether we should reopen applications for admission to COMED institutions. Of the 5,000-odd applications we received, 20 per cent applications were received form Karnataka students. We want to give our students some more time to seek admissions," the representative said.
The SC has raised several questions about admissions under various categories -- How many seats would be available for reservation category students and general merit students? What would be the fee charged for these categories? Would there be any variation in fee?
"We are discussing all these issues. Another meeting is expected to be held early next week where a decision will be taken on the quantum of seats for reservation and merit categories," government officials said.
Non-Karnataka category? The fate of thousands of non-Karnataka category candidates who have sought admission in medical, dental and engineering colleges hangs in balance. According to the SC order, the 50 per cent government quota should take care of the "local population".
"And hence, the government cannot allot seats to non-Karnataka candidates. In effect, their categorisation has been declared as null and void," an expert said.