Maharashtra government’s nod to 100 new physiotherapy seats irks MBBS aspirants

More than two weeks after admissions to undergraduate medical and dental seats ended, students and parents have are unhappy with the state government’s alleged biased

More than two weeks after admissions to undergraduate medical and dental seats ended, students and parents have are unhappy with the state government’s alleged biased attitude against medical course aspirants.

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The state common entrance test (CET) cell recently decided to allow the inclusion of 100 new seats in physiotherapy courses despite more than half of the admissions process being over. Meanwhile, a similar request from MBBS students last month was not allowed, students said.

All of the 100 newly-approved MBBS seats remain vacant, even as many medical course aspirants have not gotten seats.

The board of governors (BoG) of Medical Council of India (MCI) had announced the introduction of these new seats — 50 each in government medical colleges (GMC) in Latur and Kolhapur — on August 27. On September 4, the CET cell released the mop-up round list, but the newly-approved seats had not figured in the list. For many, this meant they had to opt for a seat in private medical colleges, where fees are higher.

“We were told that approval of the 100 new medical seats in the last week of August came through late and could not be included in the mop-up round or the institutional round, which went on till mid-September.

However, new seats in physiotherapy were included in the admissions process despite their admissions starting in the first week of August,” said Shailaja More, parent of a first year MBBS student.

“What’s worse is that once the admission process ended, the CET cell revealed how 62 seats in government dental colleges also went vacant, despite demand for the same. We’ve been cheated by the government,” said a student.

Officials from the state CET cell told HT that the decision to not include the new MBBS seats in the admissions process this year came from the state government. “The new physiotherapy seats were introduced by the appropriate authorities because as per court ruling, the admission process ends on October 31, so there’s enough time to introduce changes. There’s been absolutely no bias from our side,” said Anand Rayate, commissioner, state CET cell.