Over 400 management quota MBBS seats still vacant in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Over 400 undergraduate medical seats under the management quota at private medical colleges in Karnataka remain vacant, with less than two weeks remaining for admissions for the current academic year.
High fees, ranging from Rs 26 lakh to Rs 45 lakh, are believed to be the primary reason students are declining seats under the management quota, according to a report by Deccan Herald. The lowest fee is Rs 26,12,700 at Navodaya Medical College in Raichur and Srinivas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Mangaluru, while the highest fee is Rs 45,41,500 at Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences in Bengaluru.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has announced the schedule for the mop-up round of seat allotment for medical courses, with 596 seats remaining unfilled after the second round. Of these, 453 seats are under the management quota, while 135 are under the private quota. Only seven seats remain available under the affordable government quota in private colleges.
Meanwhile, college managements are optimistic that the remaining seats will be filled in the mop-up round.
“Even last year, around 20 seats were vacant in our college after the second round, but in the mop-up, all the seats were filled. This year too, we are confident of getting admissions for all the available seats,” a management representative of a private medical college in Bengaluru told the publication.
KEA officials have noted that college managements have been instructed not to increase or decrease the fees declared under the management quota after the first round. “Last year, after a few colleges offered seats for a lower fee in the second round in order to fill vacant seats, students who had got seats in the first round by paying the full fees, started approaching the KEA seeking a discount. Considering this, we informed the colleges they cannot change the fee structure mentioned on the KEA website,” H. Prasanna, Executive Director, KEA was quoted as saying by DH.
Prasanna remarked that students who secure a seat but cancel it will be penalised according to KEA regulations and will be barred from participating in any counselling, including All India counselling, for the following academic year.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
