BENGALURU: A total of 299 seats under both government and management quota for Karnataka’s Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy , Nature Cure & Yoga (Ayush) courses are lying vacant for 2018-19. Reason: Confusion over whether the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is mandatory this year or not.The Ayush department admitted that lack of clarity on NEET resulted in several seats remaining vacant. However, the Karnataka Examination Authority said their notification clearly stated that the entrance test is a must for not just MBBS and BDS, but for Ayush courses too.Out of 2,596 government quota seats, 299 remain unfilled. The highest (141) is for nature cure and yoga course, followed by homeopathy 74 and ayurveda 72.The Ayush department has already started issuing notifications for 2019-20 admissions to clear the air on the eligibility test. “Henceforth, qualifying in NEET is mandatory to obtain an Ayush seat. Candidates aged below 25 can apply for NEET and obtain minimum 50 percentile (general merit). We’ve issued notifications and instructed each private Ayush college to spread the word in at least 20 PU colleges each. Nothing can be done now for the seats that are lying vacant for this year. Measures have been taken to ensure the same is not repeated in years to come,” said Dr BS Sridhar, joint director, Ayush.There were not many takers for the general merit payment quota seats in private colleges where each seat cost Rs 1.75 lakh, according to sources. Of the 103 Ayush colleges in the state, only 72 were permitted to take up courses in 2018-19, based on a quality audit and hence, the number of seats has also decreased. “The impact of this will be seen in 2022-23 and the number of graduating doctors will be lesser,” said sources.Recently, the Karnataka State Private Ayurveda Medical Colleges and Hospitals Association’s Federation wrote to the Central Ayush Board seeking permission to admit non-NEET candidates for 2018-19 as the number of eligible candidates was less.But by the time the Centre took a stand on giving relaxation for this year, many students have already got admission for BSc degree or diploma, and BDS courses, sources added.Shivananda Kapasi, registrar-academics, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, admitted that lack of clarity on the rule—whether its applicable from 2018-19 or not—has led to the crisis. “Initially, NEET was made mandatory and later when private Ayush colleges appealed to the government, non-NEET candidates were also allowed to take up the course. That’s the recent development. The initial confusions have had its impact,” said Kapasi.

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