Domicile rule: State government working out modalities for revised counselling

Following the setback owing to the Supreme Court order on Wednesday, which had struck down the mandatory 10-year domicile rule in Karnataka for post-graduate, government and government-quota medical and dental seats, the State government has sought legal opinion. It also plans to write to the central government seeking clarifications.

As of now, the State government has halted the counselling process.

As many as 11,433 candidates have registered for counselling and have completed the verification process. They are vying for 2,275 medical and 909 dental seats in Karnataka. Nearly 50% of those registered are candidates who are not from Karnataka. They will now be able to opt for government and government-quota seats.

The State government is racing against time as the last date to complete admissions as stipulated by the Medical Council of India (MCI) is May 18. Sources in the Medical Education Department said that the possibility of appealing against the SC order is ‘low’ due to the timeline fixed by the MCI. As per the Karnataka Examinations Authority’s earlier schedule, the seats were to be alloted on April 5, which was, however, stalled.

Another matter of concern is that the counselling would take place in the runup to the State Assembly elections, which are scheduled on May 12. “Due to these circumstances, we will write to the central government seeking an extension of the May 18 deadline to complete admissions,” an official added.

The Medical Education Department, along with the KEA, had a meeting on Thursday to sort out the logistics and tweak the State government’s notification based on the SC order.

Sources in Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) said that the entire counselling process would be rescheduled and non-Karnataka students would be allowed to exercise their options and pick government and government-quota medical and dental seats.