Final SS counselling round still has 20 percent seats vacant

Mumbai: The third round of centralized super specialty counselling ordered by the Supreme Court has also left one in every five seats vacant.Half of these vacancies(50%), exist in Government Colleges. The government to lessen the widening gap of vacant super-specialty seats has decided to remove the 50% criteria for admission to 'NEET Super Specialty' seats. This is to be done to increase the criteria of candidate eligibility.

Initially, the first centralized super specialty round for 1,901 seats saw 352 remain vacant', of which 169 happened to be in government colleges.

Tamil Nadu, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra, is the order in which vacant seat majority has emerged. While 242 seats have been left vacant, as doctors did not choose to opt for them. While 111 opted for seats, however, they did not show up for them- finally. The court may be moved by hopeful aspirants again.

"The Centre conducted a centralized admission for the first time, so we have more clarity on vacancies. Every state used to conduct their own admissions or it was at the institute level. Students could be rejecting seats due to higher fees at private colleges and stringent bond rules in some states. The Centre has to analyze data," said Dr Kailash Sharma, Director (academics), Tata Memorial Centre. He felt the 3 rounds, should be followed up by a mop-up round at the institute-level. "Seats could have been vacant even after that but vacancies in government colleges would have reduced further," he added.

A senior Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare official said, "At super specialty level students seek specific courses. If they don't get them, they opt out. At the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, candidates keep their options open."

Some doctors from the north chose to refrain from colleges in the south, due to cultural differences, said a doctor. Some candidates complained that DGHS did not give enough publicity to the 3^rd counselling round, ordered by the SC, leading to vacant seats, reports TOI.