A representative image of a student writing an exam.
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Bengaluru: The NEET mess may delay seat allotment through the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) for undergraduate engineering and other courses by at least a month this academic year.
With the Supreme Court stating that counselling for medical courses based on NEET should start from July 6, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has to wait for the all-India quota to finish before starting allotment in the state. After that, KEA needs at least 40 days to finish all rounds, which may delay engineering admissions.
While medical seats under the all-India quota are allotted centrally, seats under the state quota are allotted through the KEA. "Although KEA plans to open option-entry in state after the first round of seat allotment, they need at least 40 days to complete all rounds, including mop-up," an official from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences said.
According to the schedule issued by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the last date for engineering admissions against the available vacancy is September 15. Sources in the Department of Technical Education said it would be difficult to meet the deadline as counselling for medical seats will take at least 40-45 days. And then, the KEA may need about two months to complete the counselling process for engineering courses.
However, KEA is confident of completing the process on time. "As soon as the Union government finishes the first round of counseling for the all-India quota, we will commence the process for seats under the state quota," KEA executive director H Prasanna said. "Even in 2023, the AICTE's dates were almost similar. We don't think there will be any delay."
In case of delay, the government will write to AICTE seeking extension of the last date for admissions, officials said.
Meanwhile, students and parents are worried as COMEDK has decided not to wait for KEA's schedule on engineering counselling. COMEDK is likely to announce its schedule on Monday. "While COMEDK provides a full refund in case a student finds a seat through KCET, colleges will deduct part of the amount," one parent said.
However, COMEDK authorities said starting their schedule before the KEA will not affect Karnataka students. Most students coming through COMEDK are from other states.