Karnataka passes Bill on CET admissions

Amidst severe protests from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the twelfth Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed the Bill on CET admissions to professional colleges on Friday.

Termed as the Karnataka Selection of Candidates for Admission to Medical, Dental and Engineering Courses (special provisions) Bill 2004, the Bill has been passed to make special provisions for the selection of candidates and admissions to professional colleges in the state.

The Bill calls for a seat-sharing ratio of 75:25 between the government and the college managements, while the fee structure would be as per the recommendations of the Justice A B Murgod Committee.

"This Bill will stand before the Supreme Court as it falls in line with the apex court's ruling. The Surpreme Court had asked the states to abide by the recommendations of the Justice A B Murgod Committee for fees and Justice Venkataraman Committee which had recommended a 75:25 seat-sharing ratio. Both these recommendations have been adhered to," said Ramesh Kumar, a Congress MLA.

On the Supreme Court verdict to go with a 50:50 seat-sharing ratio, Kumar said: "Even if this Bill is not approved by the Supreme Court, we will still get an opportunity to begin a new chapter on this matter."

Vatal Nagraj, an independent MLA, expressed apprehensions on the manner in which the Bill was introduced in the House.

"We will lose faith in the democracy as they have not even discussed this before the House prior to introduction. The Murgod Committee fee structure is higher than that of the 2002-03 fee structure."

The Legislative Assembly also passed the State Budget with minor changes incorporated into the Karnataka Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2004.

Later, speaking to media persons as a spokesperson of the ruling Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition government, P G R Sindhia admitted that the chief secretaries of eight states, including Karnataka, had received a notification from the Surpreme Court which sought an explanation on the delay to fill up the seats for professional colleges.

The other states that have received this notification include Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Orissa, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

"As per the 75:25 seat sharing formula between the government and the managements, Karnataka has 1,424 medical seats under the government quota. Counselling has been completed for 1,349 seats. This afternoon, all these students have been asked to pay the fee as per the Murgod Committee recommendations which is less than that of 2002-03," Sindhia said.

He, however, did not revealed the details on engineering seats as counselling is yet to begin. Details on dental seats was also unavailable.

"The chief secretary has been asked to appear before the Supreme Court along with records. We will keep up with the deadlines given by the Supreme Court and the Medical Council of India on filling up these seats," Sindhia said.