Either Unfilled or Cancelled: MBBS vacant seat count may surpass 2000 seats this year

New Delhi: Around 2000 MBBS seats are likely to remain vacant this year due to the mismanagement of the counselling process and violation of MBBS admission guidelines.

Among these, 1500 MBBS seats remained unfilled during the counseling process and another 600 MBBS admissions are likely to be cancelled as they were either made after the admission deadline i.e. September 30, or those seats were filled at the institute-level, which NMC had earlier barred,

These 600 MBBS seats include 350 MBBS admissions made by CENTAC in government and self-financing medical colleges in Puducherry. Apart from this, recently the Apex Medical Regulator also cancelled 141 MBBS admissions stray-vacancy-round MBBS admissions in private medical colleges in Maharashtra as the counselling for these seats was conducted at the at the institute level through email communication violating the directions issued by NMC.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that taking note of the fact that several states are conducting Undergraduate MBBS Counselling beyond the cut-off date, the Apex Medical Commission issued a warning to the stakeholders and reiterated that all MBBS admissions must be completed within September 30 of the concerned academic year.

NMC further clarified that admissions beyond the cut-off date shall be considered invalid. The Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC also issued a notice and referred to the Supreme Court order dated 18.01.2016, where the Apex Medical Body had approved the time schedule for processing of scheme as well as admission in Undergraduate, Postgraduate as well as Super-Speciality medical and dental Courses, which was framed after consulting all the States/ Union Territories, Govt. Of India and other concerned parties.

Apart from this, the Apex Medical Commission also clarified that admissions must be made only by a central or state agency even for the stray vacancy round in Private Medical Colleges. The Commission had barred any medical college/institute from conducting the counselling, including the stray vacancy round, in physical mode.

Taking note of the violation of this rule, NMC recently cancelled 141 stray-vacancy-round MBBS admissions in private medical colleges in Maharashtra. The Commission took this decision as these admissions were made at the institute level through email communication.

Issuing an order, the Commission recently condemned the State Government's decision to allow Institute-level admission and clarified that the notice issued by the State CET cell on September 26 to fill up the vacant seats was issued in clear violation of the NMC directive.

Also Read: MBBS Admissions Beyond September 30 are Invalid: NMC warns all the states

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board on October 9 invited applications for a stray vacancy round. However, it is unclear how many students were allotted seats in this round.

Meanwhile, the officials in charge of MBBS admission in Bengal have informed TOI that the number of vacant seats was still being complied. Meanwhile, CENTAC admitted around 350 students in Puducherry after September 30, 2023.

Commenting on the matter, the admission authority in Puducherry, CENTAC told TOI that the NMC public notice was not applicable to Puducherry. The convenor of CENTAC Sivaraj said, "The home ministry approved a 10% quota for government school students only on September 5. So, we could not complete the admission process on time."

Speaking about the issue, UT Health Secretary Pankaj Kumar Jha told the Times of India that the government was expecting an exemption for the cut-off date and would otherwise move to the court. “The NMC's public notice invalidating admissions after the cut-off date was issued on October 19. We wrote to NMC on September 5. We are yet to get a reply,” he added.

The LG and CM have already written to the Centre and NMC requesting for an extended admission deadline. Meanwhile, commenting on the matter, a representative of a private medical college and hospital added that the government assured them that no MBBS seats would remain unfilled. "Fifty-eight MBBS seats were filled in the first round of counselling before September 30. The government-constituted centralized admission committee filled 191 MBBS seats in the next rounds held after September 30. Only one MBBS seat is vacant now," added the official.

Some of the students who had joined the private medical colleges told the Daily that they had quit engineering courses in NITs and popular deemed universities. Speaking about the matter, a parent told the Daily, "Students won't be admitted there now. Arts and science colleges admissions have also closed."

Therefore, along with the 1,500 MBBS seats that remained vacant during the counselling process another 600 MBBS admissions will be cancelled. It will ultimately result in more than 2,000 vacant MBBS seats. These seats are likely to remain vacant unless the Supreme Court extends the deadline.

Also Read: Institute Level Counselling NOT ALLOWED: NMC Cancels 141 MBBS Admissions done at private medical colleges in Maharashtra