PG admission chaos: Private medical colleges in Maharashtra deny seats to students

Institutes say this happened because MH-CET cell released seat allotment list despite their opposition

Two days after the state medical education department decided to exclude private medical institutes from the centralised admission process (CAP) for post-graduate (PG) seats, the Maharashtra-Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) cell released a seat allotment list on Thursday night with the names of these institutes.

Hundreds of students, who were allotted seats in private medical institutes, were sent back without confirmation of admission. (Pic for representation)

What followed next was chaos. Hundreds of students, who were allotted seats in private medical institutes, were sent back without confirmation of admission.

“We had requested the MH-CET cell to release the seat allotment list, but exclude the 400 seats at private institutes. But they decided against it. We’ve been receiving calls from students, who are now worried about their future,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, director of the state Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

After charging students three and five times the regular fees for management and NRI quota seats for the past few years, private medical institutes in the state approached the state medical education department to allow them to charge five times the regular fees for 35% seats that fall under the management quota as well. Until then, the institutes had requested exemption from the ongoing CAP.

Along with issuance of seat allotment list, the MH-CET cell also released a circular for state-based private medical and dental institutes, asking them to get permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI) if they want to deny admissions to students.

“We are waiting Fee Regulating Authority’s (FRA) final decision,” Kadam said .