1,815 students admitted to colleges last year, including three from MBBS course, wrote CET again this year

The Hindu

28-04-2025

A total of 1,815 students, including three MBBS students, who got medical, dental, engineering and other professional courses seats in NEET-2024 and CET-2024 counselling last year and were admitted to colleges, have written the CET again this year seeking seats in various courses.
Expressing surprise, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has taken steps to monitor these candidates in the wake of the alleged engineering seat blanking scam last year.
CET-2025, which is the gateway for admission to engineering and other professional courses, was held recently and the results will be out in a few days. NEET-2025 will be held across the country on May 4 for admission to medical and dental courses.
Of the 1,815 candidates, three had secured medical seats last year, 100 candidates secured dental seats, 191 AYUSH seat, 9 B.V.Sc (Veterinary Science) seats, 766 Engineering, 105 Farm Science, 511 Nursing, 109 Pharmacy and 21 Yoga and Naturopathy seats.
'The online applications of these candidates have been checked several times and there are no fake candidates. Some candidates were called and questioned about this. A student who has secured a government quota seat in a prestigious private medical college said she is finding it difficult to study a medical course and she wants to join engineering course. Another candidate said that he is finding it difficult to study MBBS and is writing the CET to get a veterinary seat,' said H. Prasanna, Executive Director of KEA.
What does rule says
There is no limit for candidates on the number of attempts to write the CET. A candidate who has passed the II PU in the Science stream can write the CET as many times as they want.
As per the KEA rules, if a candidate has previously secured a seat in any professional course and has been admitted in a college, and then re-writes the CET next year, such candidates will not be given the seat in the course they had secured earlier. Instead, they will have to get seats in other courses only.
For example, if a candidate who had secured an engineering seat last time writes the CET again and applies for an engineering seat, the seat will not be given. Instead, they will have to apply for a different course.
'There is no problem with candidates appearing for the CET for the second time. There is huge demand for medical courses and candidates are desperate for seats. However, the fact that even those who got medical and dental seats appeared for the CET the second time has raised some questions. It will be checked whether these candidates get seats allotted in their names and then get admitted to the college or not. Until the completion of CET and NEET counselling, all these candidates will be kept under surveillance. If they get a seat but do not get admitted to the college, it will be considered as seat blocking and legal action will be taken against such candidates,' Mr. Prasanna warned.
Seats deprived for eligible ones
Candidates who are trying to get seats in other courses by writing the CET for the second time will have to discontinue the course in which they got seats last time. Due to this, these seats will remain vacant again. Therefore, about 1,815 eligible candidates from last year will be deprived of seats in other courses, including medical, officials pointed out.
Since there is lateral entry for the 3rd semester (2nd year) only for engineering courses, the seats of these courses can be filled. However, there is no lateral entry for medical, dental, nursing, B.V.Sc and other allied health science courses.
'It is unfortunate that some candidates are deprived of seats due to self-interest. Except for engineering, seats in other courses are not allowed to be filled through lateral entry. So, candidates and parents should think seriously about this. Before choosing courses, they should think many times and choose courses that suit their abilities,' said Mr. Prasanna.