Indian State Reverts to Centralised Process for Filling Dental College Seats

INDIA: Following allegations of seat blocking during MBBS admissions at medical colleges in the final institute-level round, the state of Maharashtra has decided to revert to a centralised process for filling vacant seats at dental colleges.

Centralised Selection for Dental Admissions

On Wednesday, the state Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell unveiled a new schedule for the second stray vacancy round for BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) admissions. In contrast to medical admissions, where the second stray vacancy round was conducted at the institute level, the dental course’s selection list has been centrally declared by the CET Cell. A total of 217 selected candidates now have until Saturday to confirm their admission at their respective dental institutes.

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DCI Extension Impact

The decision to conduct the second-round counselling for private medical seats at the institute level by the Medical Education department had put dental admissions on hold. The Dental Council of India (DCI) had extended the admission cut-off date to September 30, affecting the admission process for both MBBS and BDS courses.

Differing Approaches

Notably, this decision comes despite an earlier directive from the National Medical Commission (NMC) to conduct the entire counselling process, including stray vacancy rounds, in an online mode. While the government cited the need to fill all vacancies as the reason for switching to institute-level admissions for MBBS seats, some candidates expressed concerns that colleges favoured less meritorious students over them.

Akshay Sable, a medical counsellor based in Pune, questioned the rationale behind switching to institute-level admissions for MBBS but not doing the same for the 217 vacant dental seats. He suggested that the difference might be due to the involvement of money in MBBS admissions, leading the CET Cell to handle dental seat selection instead of the institutes.

The CET Cell has indicated that further rounds may be announced if BDS seats remain available after the second stray vacancy round. This move aims to ensure that all available dental seats are filled, maintaining fairness and transparency in the admission process.

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