163% increase in seat vacancy in Maharashtra deemed dental institutes under management and NRI quotas

Deemed dental institutes in the state have witnessed a 163% increase in seat vacancy under the management and NRI (non-resident Indian) quotas compared to last year.

Deemed dental institutes in the state have witnessed a 163% increase in seat vacancy under the management and NRI (non-resident Indian) quotas compared to last year. This can be attributed to the on-going pandemic that delayed admissions to most professional courses and the fear among students to travel far for colleges this year.

(Representative image) According to information shared by the Directorate General of Health Sciences (DGHS) recently, close to 318 seats are vacant under the management and NRI quotas this year. (HT Photo)

According to information shared by the Directorate General of Health Sciences (DGHS) recently, close to 318 seats are vacant under the management and NRI quotas this year after three common admission and two mop-up rounds. Last year, this figure in deemed dental institutes stood at 122. Similarly, around 290 seats had gone vacant under the management and NRI quotas of medical institutes last year as compared to 318 this year.

Many have blamed this increase in seat vacancies on the financial strain on families due to Covid-19 and the lockdown in 2020. “Deemed as well as private medical and dental institutes charge as much as three to five times the regular fees for seats under the management and NRI quotas, which many students might not be able to afford this year. This could be one of the biggest reasons for the seats under these two quotas to go unclaimed this year,” said Dr TP Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

DGHS conducts counselling for 15% of all India quota (AIQ) seats, all deemed institute seats, as well as admissions to central universities. The stray vacancy round is conducted at the institute level, for which the list of eligible candidates is forwarded by the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) to the respective institutes.

“While finance is one major reason for many students not opting for management or NRI quota seats, another reason also could be more students choosing to take a drop-year to apply for the national entrance exam again next year and better their score, with hopes of bagging a seat in a government medical or dental institute,” said Archana Purohit, parent of an MBBS aspirant.