The Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has stopped allotment of seats to professional courses after the Supreme Court announced that the state government and college managements shall share 50 per cent seats each. ‘‘The state government has received a copy of the court order. The government will study it and take an appropriate decision. Till then, admissions will stand postponed,’’ K.P. Pandey, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, said.In a meeting today, the government decided to issue the new seat matrix and order re-counselling for admission of students into professional courses during this academic year soon.Meanwhile, Advocate General A.N. Jayaram is of the opinion that the seat-matrix already notified by the state government stands annulled and the government will have to evolve a fresh matrix on a 50:50 basis. Chief Secretary B.S. Patil, however, maintained that meritorious students will not suffer because the government had already provided reservation for them.In any case, the Government will take a decision on the issue on Saturday on the status of the CET admissions, he said.Sources say the state is unlikely to have a quota for non-Karnataka students as it did earlier. The reason offered by the Government is that it had, at its disposal, 85 per cent of seats till last year, and 75 per cent of seats this year till it was quashed by the apex court on Thursday. Now that the percentage of seats has shrunk, the government quota seats will be smaller in number and it will take a toll on seats under reservation and special categories, an official said.COMED (consortium of medical, engineering and dental colleges) president R.L. Jalappa welcomed the Supreme Court order and said the state government could have prevented the present situation. The colleges, he said, had requested the government to stop admissions till the Supreme Court clarified on the issue. Prominent management representative and former president of Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association, Shamanur Shivashankarappa said the apex court’s order has introduced some good systems like having two committees each for evolving a fee structure and for deciding the quota of college managements.Private Dental Colleges Association president L.K. Raju welcomed the SC order but said the proposed committees to be headed by retired high court judges must include representatives of private engineering, medical and dental colleges so as to hear them too. ‘‘This will be beneficial to students only because those heading the committees have no experience in running colleges but we do,’’ he said.
