TECHNICAL GLITCHES AND MISMANAGEMENT LEAD TO VACANT MBBS SEATS

Cancelling admissions can have a significant impact on students who lose their seats; it can disrupt their education and career plans, causing stress due to uncertainty

• After the MBBS counselling concluded in September, more than 2,000 seats were still vacant. Experts blame the mismanagement of the counselling process, technical errors, lack of coordination among government agencies, and exorbitant tuition fees charged by some private medical colleges.

• The Supreme Court (SC) had earlier set a deadline of September 30 for the completion of MBBS counselling process. However, some states including Maharashtra, Bihar and Bengal continued the MBBS admissions beyond the deadline set by SC. Recently, NMC invalidated more than 600 admissions in Tamil Nadu for violation of its guidelines.

• The central counselling was wrapped up well on time. "The primary reason MBBS seats re-main vacant this year is no adherence to NMC guidelines. State medical councils can request SC to extend the admission deadline. The health ministry is looking into addressing the issue of more than 2,000 seats remaining vacant this year, says a health ministry official on the condition of anonymity.

• There are 24 counselling authorities, and students block more than one seat in online counselling, but end up joining only one. Conducting offline counselling also has its limitations, adds the official.

• In state counselling rounds, it is the responsibility of the state medical councils and institutions to ensure that all processes are completed on time. "Students can apply only when registration opens online, and admissions processes are overseen by the state medical councils and medical institutions. State medical councils must follow the rules set by the NMC. Deadlines are overshot due to lack of communication between agencies responsible for admissions, says Dr Rishi raj Sinha, executive member, FAIMA, pointing out that NMC is responsible for ensuring that the MBBS academic session begins on time and there should be no gap between the MBBS first and second year.

• Affordable fees is also an important factor for medical students looking to finalize a medical college. "When students find out they cannot afford the fees in a private college, they give up their seat and try to get admit- ted to a government college. Consequently, the seat that on September 29, 2023, however, there was a technical error in the list, which led to its cancellation. The next list was released after the deadline, which was rejected by the NMC. As a result, more than 100 seats remain vacant in. UP. The government might approach the Supreme Court to seek permission because the delay happened due to a technical error," says Dr Ajit Kumar, director, Sharda University, Uttar Pradesh, explaining that this year, the entire counselling was carried out on- line. Earlier, only 90% of counsel- ling happened online, and the stray vacancy rounds were offline, he added. The offline counselling meant that student had to be physically present for counselling and he/she could block only one seat for admission, says Dr Kumar, adding that counselling dates should be the same across the length and breadth of the country to avoid seat wastage.

• The key reasons for vacant seats, says Dr Somashekhar SP, chairman, Medical Advisory Board, Aster DM Healthcare-GCC & India, are the high cost of medical education in India lack of aware-ness about available MBBS seats in government medical colleges students' preference for private medical colleges over government ones, and poor infrastructure and facilities in some government medical colleges. Mismanagement of the counselling process in several states including stray rounds to fill up seats has led to this medical crisis. Cancelling admissions can have a significant impact on students who lose their seats. It can disrupt their education and career plans, causing stress and un-certainty. Universities and regulatory bodies must maintain transparency and adhere to dead-lines to minimize such disruptions, says Dr Somashekhar.