MHT CET cell releases revised schedule for fifth and sixth mop-up round for BDS

The state common entrance test (CET) cell late on Saturday released a revised schedule for the on-going mop-up rounds for admissions to undergraduate dental course seats across Maharashtra. The schedule covers the fifth and sixth mop-up rounds, which is a rare chance for dental aspirants to opt for seats in the course.

"This year due to the delay in admissions, the Dental Council of India announced that BDS admissions will continue till January 31, therefore we have added more mop-up rounds. Never before have we conducted these many rounds of admission," said an official from the CET cell. He added that a final list of vacant seats across state institutes will be released soon for the benefit of students.

While admissions to MBBS courses ended on January 15, the dental council realised that the vast number of vacant seats in central institutes across the country needs to be filled and therefore extended the admission deadline by two weeks for BDS alone.

According to information shared by the Maharashtra CET cell, 35% seats were left vacant across government and private dental colleges this year after five rounds of admissions. The situation reported in states like Karnataka, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh is much worse this year with as many as 50% staying vacant by January 15.

Experts on numerous occasions have pointed to the large number of unemployment prevailing in this sector for BDS graduates as well as the high financial back-up in order to set up a private practice as the main reasons for the decline in demand for the course.

“Dentists don’t get absorbed into the system like MBBS graduates do, and if they want to set up their personal practice they need financial backing which is very difficult for most people,” said Muzaffar Khan, a Thane-based medical education counselor. He added that this has led to poor demand for the course in most rural parts of the country.

In the first week of January, the Directorate General of Health Sciences (DGHS) had revealed a 163% increase in seat vacancy in the management and NRI quotas of deemed dental institutes in Maharashtra some, compared to last year.

"We hope to fill up as many seats as possible with these extra mop-up rounds, since there still are many students waiting to get admitted into the course," added the CET official. Students can find further information on the ongoing admissions process on www.mahacet.org.