BENGALURU: Medical education minister DK Shivakumar on Friday justified the state government’s decision to increase fees for medical seats this year with some whataboutery: “If people can afford to pay Rs 50,000 for a lower kindergarten seat, why can’t they pay more for a medical seat?”
Shivakumar, who paid a surprise visit to the
Karnataka Examination Authority premises where the final mop-up round for allocation of medical seats was held, said the government spends Rs 10 lakh subsidising a medical student and fees (Rs 16,700 a year) had not been increased in the past 15 years.
Hike justified as colleges have to maintain standard: DKS
The government had drawn flak from parents as it decided to increase fees for a undergraduate seat in government medical colleges from Rs 16,700 per year to Rs 50,000 per year. The fee of government quota seats in private medical colleges was increased from Rs 77,000 per year to Rs 97,350 per year.
When told that parents were upset at the increased financial burden, Shivakumar said: “The hike is justified as colleges are mandated to maintain a minimum standard in
infrastructure and quality of education.”
The mop-up round was held for 740 seats and 50,000 students from different states and Karnataka turned up for it. In all, 1,000 seats were available and 260 seats were taken on Friday.
No postponement for Kodagu students
Students from flood-hit
Kodagu district were disappointed when Shivakumar expressed helplessness at their demand that the admission process be postponed in view of the floods there.
“The matter is not in our hands. According to the Supreme Court order, we have to complete the process within the time-frame and we cannot have a separate schedule for Kodagu students,” said Shivakumar. He added that the government hadn’t received any complaints from Kodagu students.
