In Karnataka, the results of the third All India (AI) round of the National Eligibility Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2023 counselling are soon to be published, while the seat allotment process for the second state counselling round overlaps with its time frame. The outcome? NEET PG aspirants in the state are anguished. They report that many seats have been blocked due to this.
A delegation of students met Ramya S, Director of Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), in this regard on Saturday, September 30, urging her to look into the matter and also provide them with the details of the seats blocked. However, the students are yet to receive an update on the matter, according to Dr Ruthvik SN, one of the student delegates. In his estimate, about 500 seats have been blocked so far.
Students securing seats in AIR as well as state counselling rounds leads to blocking. These seats are released after the publication of the results and are made available for the Mop-Up round. "But due to the possibility of an overlap, meritorious students are losing their chance at securing a seat, and there is much confusion," says Dr Ruthvik, a student from Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), who has secured a seat in the second round of state counselling, but is aspiring for an all India seat.
Worried students, along with the All India Democratic Students' Association (AIDSO), on October 2, met Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister of Medical Education, Karnataka, asking him to resolve the crisis. "Hanamantu HS, State Vice-President of AIDSO, who led the delegation, requested that state counselling should be conducted after the allotment of central seats or another round (third round) of counselling should be conducted after the current state counselling.
Though the minister has assured the delegation that the issue would be looked into and resolved before the third round of state counselling, they are yet to receive an update from him as well. Meanwhile, Ruthvik informs that a plea filed by the students over the matter will be heard in the Supreme Court on October 6.
