No takers for BDS: Shortage of NRI Quota Applicants in Punjab Dental Colleges

Faridkot:  All Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) seats under the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota in 16 dental colleges, including government institutions, remained vacant following the first round of counselling for admissions at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot.

In 10 medical colleges in Punjab, 84% of the MBBS seats allocated to NRIs were still unfilled, according to officials. After the first round of counselling, 350 (92%) of the 380 MBBS and BDS seats under the quota remain unfilled because of the prohibitively high tuition. 

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The primary source of funding for medical and dentistry universities comes from NRI quota seats. All private and public medical colleges in the state charge US$1.1 lakh (91 lakh) for the complete course price for an NRI quota MBBS seat. A BDS seat costs US$44,000 (about Rs. 36 lakh).

 According to HT report in Punjab, ten medical schools offer 185 MBBS seats under the NRI quota, 155 of which are open. There are 195 BDS places in the state's 16 dental colleges that are designated for NRI applicants, and they are all still unfilled.

Former BFUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr. SS Gill claims that a limited number of students will continue to choose NRI quota seats because of the expensive tuition. The five-year degree becomes expensive due to the additional costs that the students must take into account. According to Dr. SS Gill, one important factor in NRIs choosing other nations over India for medical education is the fact that many of those who would like to send their children to India for medical study do not have large resources.

72% of BDS state quota seats and 37% of MBBS state quota seats were still unfilled after the first round of counselling. 1,482 of the 2,772 MBBS and BDS state quota seats at the state's 10 medical and 16 dental colleges were still unfilled. In 10 medical colleges, including four government medical colleges across the state, 525 of the 1,437 MBBS state quota seats are vacant. Much to the dismay of the 16 dental colleges in the state, of the 1,335 BDS seats in private and government colleges, only 378 seats have been allotted during the online counselling session held by the BFUHS. An official said 957 BDS seats remained vacant.

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