65 MBBS seats returned

BANGALORE: A revamp in the medical sector is the need of the hour as the surrendered seats matrix in the ongoing CET counselling shows toppers opting out of medical seats in favour of engineering. So far, 65 MBBS seats and 188 BDS seats has been surrendered.  In fact, three MBBS seats in the prestigious Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) were surrendered by students clearly showing that they were not opting out of new medical colleges for better ones but out of the medicine itself. When The New Indian Express traced one of the students he said, on the condition of anonymity, that he had taken the seat because his parents wanted him to take medicine but then he managed to convince them that he did not want to wait for several years to complete his education. Further, Bangalore-based students said that while return on investment was high in the medical field, it was a delayed and time-consuming process. While not a new phenomena, the fact that toppers are not willing to take up the course even at the concessional government seats was a worrying factor. The other reasons quoted by the students were that they got into medical colleges outside Bangalore or they opted for more prestigious engineering colleges instead.Dr O S Siddappa, Director, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute said that this was not a worrying sign as the seats would still be taken up by top students in the state. Other students who are genuinely interested in medicine and had to opt for other colleges are the ones who are upset with such processes. Karnataka Examinations Authority Special Officer SP Kulkarni said that to prevent this phenomena, notices were put at the counselling centres advising students to think before they take their seats and surrender early if they are opting out so that the seats can go to deserving students in the Government quota itself. “There is no need to worry though, as these seats would still be included in the counselling,” he said. Even as these seats get returned, the CET counselling just got additional 700 seats in medical colleges that would be filled through special counselling to be conducted on July 17.