Online test for management seats in pvt MBBS colleges soon

HYDERABAD: In a latest develop ment, the Telangana government has cleared the decks for conduct ing a separate online entrance test for filling up 35% MBBS manage ment quota seats on offer in 15 private medical colleges in the state. The new selection process is expected to come into effect from this academic year. While a government order is yet to be is sued, highly-placed sources in the health ministry said that a deci sion in this regard would be an nounced shortly .
Once implemented, private colleges will be allowed to fill as many as 735 MBBS management quota seats (under B category) through this process, thus pocket ing a total five-year fee of Rs 330.75 crore ­ if the government's fixed ceiling of Rs 9 lakh per seat per annum is followed.
“We have already done our homework and are ready to con duct the separate entrance though a third party . Within two days of the GO being issued, we will release a notification regarding the same. Since the exam will be conducted online, the evaluation process will not take much time,“ C Laxmi Narsimha Rao, president of Telangana Private Medical and Dental Colleges' Association (TP MDA) told TOI, while acknowl edging that such a move is on the cards.
Sources said that the test would, however, not be conducted or those eyeing a seat from the 15% NRI quota (315 seats in C category). Colleges will continue o collect Rs 173.25 crore for a fiveyear period from this category , if he government's fixed ceiling of Rs 11 lakh per annum per seat is aken into account.
Presently, all 15 private and 5 government medical colleges ogether offer 2,950 MBBS seats every year with private colleges alone accounting for 2,100 seats.Under existing rules, half of hese 2,100 seats (1,050 seats) in private medical colleges are filled entirely by the government under he convener quota that attracts a subsidised fee of Rs 60,000 per annum per seat. The remaining 50% seats (735 seats under B category and 315 seats under C category) are filled by private colleges individually .
The rule for only B category seats is likely to change now. This was confirmed by Telanagna health minister C Lakshma Reddy on Tuesday . He maintained that the move was in accordance with Supreme Court guidelines. “Earlier, private medical colleges admitted students without following any procedure. But the Supreme Court has now made it mandatory for all these colleges to conduct a special entrance test,“ Reddy said, adding how the price of management quota seats in Telangana (as per government ceiling) is relatively lower compared to the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
But while the minister insisted that the new online system of se lection would throw up no scope for malpractice ­ as it would be conducted under the supervision of the state government ­ observers claimed otherwise. In fact, members of the Telangana Junior Doctors' Association and NGOs slammed the move saying it would not only make the entire selection process open to rigging but also make medical education unaffordable for the poor and middle classes.
Their concern, they claimed, was rooted in the probability of the government clubbing 10% of the convener seats (i.e. 210 seats) that were until now filled for a moderate Rs 2.40 lakh per annum to the 35% management seats.
“Until last year, one could qualify for these 210 seats by appearing for Eamcet by a paying Rs 2.40 lakh per annum. But with the new rule, the aspirants not only have to sit for a separate entrance exam, but also have to pay a high fee of Rs 9 lakh per annum. There might be many who cannot afford that,“ rued Dr G Srinivas, president of Telangana Junior Doctors' Association, adding how it could also adversely affect students, who appeared in the recently conducted Eamcet exam.