55 per cent BDS seats remains vacant in 1st round of counselling
In the first round of counselling for admissions in 16 dental colleges in the state, the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has declared 747 seats as vacant in Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). In total, 16 dental colleges offer 1,350 BDS seats.
Maximum 75 (out of total 100) BDS seats have remained vacant at Desh Bhagat Dental College in Gobindgarh, followed by 69 vacant seats at Guru Nanak Dev Dental College & Research Institute at Sunam in Bathinda, 66 at National Dental College in Dera Bassi, 65 at Adesh University in Bathinda, 62 at Sri Sukhmani Group of Institutions in Dera Bassi, 60 at Genesis Institute of Dental Sciences & Research in Ferozepur and 55 at Gian Sagar Hospital & Medical College in Banur.
Two government dental colleges in Amritsar and Patiala were able to fill 50 out of 85 seats in state quota.
In all 11 medical colleges, the BFUHS has declared about 400 MBBS seats as vacant after the first round of counselling.
The reason behind high number of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) seats falling vacant in the first round of counselling is attributed to no admission in NRI quota so far. BFUHS has withheld the seat allotment results on 183 MBBS and 196 BDS NRI quota seats.
The result of candidates with allotment of MBBS seats under the NRI category has been kept on hold after Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the operation of two corrigenda, issued by the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER) on August 20 and 22, said Registrar Rakesh Gorea at BFUHS.
These corrigenda had made modifications in the August 9 notification of the DMER in regard to NRI quota seats, relaxing the eligibility criteria and converting 15 open category MBBS seats into NRI quota.
After some students had approached the High Court, challenging these corrigenda, the court has stayed their operation, pending the decision in the High Court.
