Chennai: The central government’s flawed counseling scheme has resulted in at least 40% of the 800-plus MBBS seats surrendered by Tamil Nadu to All India Quota (AIQ) are vacated after two rounds of counselling. Many of the 345 ‘vacant’ seats are in premier institutions such as Madras Medical College, Stanley Medical College and Madurai Medical College.
While these are most likely to be filled in the elimination or vagrancy rounds, parents and student advisors fear the “faulty” rules could lead to a repeat of 2021, when 24 spots were empty even after four rounds.
This year, TN has released 15% of its total intake in state medical colleges to AIQ association. After the first round, more than 600 seats were available. “This is mainly because the rules allow students to give up their seat with a minimum forfeiture cost of 10,000. Even worse, they can unconditionally participate in the cleaning round,” said the student advisor Manickavel Arumugam. “This means that a student who has been denied admission to Stanley Medical College can apply to the same college in the deletion round.”
The situation is not so bad in TN counseling because those already allotted seats cannot participate in the next rounds.
Until 2020, at the end of two rounds, the Center returned the vacancies to the states. In 2021, it decided not to return ‘unoccupied’ seats after two rounds, but instead to run a sweep and a vagrant round. As a result, at least 24 seats in state colleges collapsed after four rounds last year.
After pressure from states and courts, the board conducted a special fifth round. That didn’t help either. All over India, 14 seats including AIIMS, JIPMER and ESIC could not be filled at all, according to DGHS Chief Information Officer and Assistant Director General (Medical Examination). Dr B Srinivas.
There have been quite a few serious mistakes this year. In Round 1, many chose not to accept the seats they applied for due to the ‘free exit’ option. The center should stipulate that a student cannot vacate the allotted seat but can advance to the desired college in subsequent rounds, experts said.
Parents and teachers want better coordination between the state and the center for prudent allocation of places. Some suggest to follow IIT admission process where students are not allowed to leave counselling.
While these are most likely to be filled in the elimination or vagrancy rounds, parents and student advisors fear the “faulty” rules could lead to a repeat of 2021, when 24 spots were empty even after four rounds.
This year, TN has released 15% of its total intake in state medical colleges to AIQ association. After the first round, more than 600 seats were available. “This is mainly because the rules allow students to give up their seat with a minimum forfeiture cost of 10,000. Even worse, they can unconditionally participate in the cleaning round,” said the student advisor Manickavel Arumugam. “This means that a student who has been denied admission to Stanley Medical College can apply to the same college in the deletion round.”
The situation is not so bad in TN counseling because those already allotted seats cannot participate in the next rounds.
Until 2020, at the end of two rounds, the Center returned the vacancies to the states. In 2021, it decided not to return ‘unoccupied’ seats after two rounds, but instead to run a sweep and a vagrant round. As a result, at least 24 seats in state colleges collapsed after four rounds last year.
After pressure from states and courts, the board conducted a special fifth round. That didn’t help either. All over India, 14 seats including AIIMS, JIPMER and ESIC could not be filled at all, according to DGHS Chief Information Officer and Assistant Director General (Medical Examination). Dr B Srinivas.
There have been quite a few serious mistakes this year. In Round 1, many chose not to accept the seats they applied for due to the ‘free exit’ option. The center should stipulate that a student cannot vacate the allotted seat but can advance to the desired college in subsequent rounds, experts said.
Parents and teachers want better coordination between the state and the center for prudent allocation of places. Some suggest to follow IIT admission process where students are not allowed to leave counselling.