Medical education
Bengaluru: In a first in the past five years, as many as 191 seats in Karnataka ’s medical colleges have remained vacant, with counselling drawing to a close on Monday night. After the second stray vacancy round on Sunday, a total of 273 medical seats remained vacant. KEA conducted two different rounds on Monday, where 84 medical seats were allotted. In the morning round, 62 medical and six dental seats were allotted. In the evening round, 22 medical and five dental seats were allotted, he said. Sujatha Rathod, director of medical education, said the cut-off percentile now is 50. Many colleges are now offering seats for about Rs 80 lakh for 4.5 years, including hostel fees, much lower than what’s communicated to KEA at the beginning of admissions. Also, govt colleges offer NRI seats at Rs 25 lakh per annum. For instance, some 105 seats in 14 colleges are available at Rs 25 lakh per annum against nearly Rs 40 lakh per annum in private institutes. Some 24 lakh write entrance test for 1.4 lakh seats. BOX: Colleges and largest number of vacant seats College— Vacant seats—- Fees (in Rs) Srinivasa Institute of medical Research Centre: 32—- 29,75,000 PES University Institute of Medical Sciences and Research: 26– 39,15,000 Sri Chamundeshwari Medical College, hospital and research institute: 21— 31,01,950 Bagalkote Medical College and research institute– 14— 25,09,350 GR Medical college and reserach centre– 12— 27,11,950 East Point College of Medical Sciences and Research Centre: 12— 37,11,950 (Figures updated at 3pm, Monday) You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Bengaluru | Silver Rate in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru | Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Petrol Price in Bengaluru | Diesel Price in Bengaluru | CNG Price in Bengaluru | LPG Price in Bengaluru Stay updated with the latest Bengaluru news.
The directorate of medical education (DME) has written to the National Medical Commission to lower the entry barrier so that candidates get a chance to pick a seat; colleges are offering deep discounts to sweeten the deal; and Karnataka Examinations Authority has called for a last-minute round, asking students to enter options by 5pm and report to colleges by 6pm. Multiple efforts have been simultaneously launched in a bid to fill these management seats. Every seat unfilled is lakhs of revenue lost.
In recent years, “this is the first time that allotments have been carried out across so many rounds”, said KEA executive director H Prasanna. “We’ve requested NMC to pare the percentile by a few points so that more students could make the cut,” she said, adding they sent a letter in this regard on Thursday. “It’s clear a large number of management seats would go vacant this year unless qualifying cutoff marks are lowered,” said Mithesh Kumar Moodukonaje, founder, National Pre University Students, Parents and Teachers Association. It is important for colleges to have this category filled up,” said the owner of a medical college. “Also, this generation is very particular about colleges they pick and they usually go by popular opinion,” added the DME. “While the cream gets government seats, the rest of the students cannot afford a management-quota seat,” said Bhagavan BC, vice-chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, the umbrella university for all medical-related programmes.
Not a single medical seat was vacant in Karnataka in the past five years. This year, all BDS seats have been filled. With this, seven rounds of counselling were conducted. “Medical colleges run on NRI fees. It makes up for the subsidised fees of the other categories. high fees for management quota is a deterrent While many seats came into the pool late. NRI quota in govt colleges is a story in itself. The NRI fee at MS Ramaiah Medical College, Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, and Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research is prohibitively high. “We’ve no control over the management-quota free matrix. At best, we’ve been recommending private colleges to reduce fees,” he added. Download the TOI App.
Karnataka has the highest number of MBBS seats in the country, with 15,395 on offer. In 2024, there were 9,282 seats in 65 colleges. In 2025, it rose to 10,559 in 66 colleges.
An often-overlooked key factor for sluggish uptake is that NRI quota was introduced in govt colleges last year.
“If Medical Counselling Committee grants further permission to fill the remaining vacant seats, KEA will conduct additional rounds of counselling and allot the seats accordingly,” he added. Fees in govt colleges are way cheaper than in private colleges. With the govt planning to establish one medical college in every district, there are high chances the state will add more seats in the near future.