Candidates attend a counselling session at SCB Medical College in Cuttack.Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 9: Call for a third round of counselling by the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) has triggered fears about MBBS seats in the state remaining vacant this year.

Around 248 seats out of the total 800 seats in five medical and two dental colleges of the state have been left vacant after two rounds of counselling.

The online choice for the third round of counselling began here on Monday and will continue today.

While 26 seats are lying vacant in SCB Medical College and Hospital, 13 are vacant at Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) Medical College and Hospital and 25 seats at Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Medical College and Hospital in Burla.Similarly, 25 seats are lying vacant at SCB Dental College, 39 seats at Hi-tech Medical Bhubaneswar, 51 seats at Hi-tech Medical College in Rourkela and 69 seats at Hi-tech Dental College.

False alarm

Authorities at the directorate said the apprehensions were misplaced.

Joint director, medical education and training Umakant Satapathy today said that there was “absolutely no chance of any seat remaining vacant”.

Brushing aside the fear, Sathpathy said: “Three to four rounds of counselling is a common phenomenon every year. This is because many students take admissions in multiple colleges at the same time and return the seats if they join other colleges. This time, besides other seats, as many as 38 all-India category seats have been surrendered.”

Upgrade hope

Candidates, who have already taken admission can also take part in the third round of counselling and fill their choices again for a better seat or college.

For example, if a candidate has been allotted MBBS in VSS, Burla, but is interested for MBBS at SCB, Cuttack, he/ she can now take part in third-round of counselling.

If available, the seat will be allotted to the candidate and the MBBS seat at VSS, Burla, will be automatically get cancelled.

The allotment letter will be issued to the candidates tomorrow and the selected students will have to report at their allotted colleges by September 17.

If the seats continue to be vacant, admissions will be done on-the-spot basis, said Sathpathy adding that the entire process of counselling would end by September 30.

Medical aspirants

Around 35,000 students from Odisha had appeared the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Test–2014 conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of which 1,363 qualified.

While 342 students were admitted through the first phase ofcounselling, 210 students were admitted through the second round.

“There are 1,363 students, who cleared the entrance test and we have just 800 seats. The seats will definitely be filled up,” Sathpathy said.

Private story

The KIIT University and Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan — both deemed universities — have 150 and 100 MBBS seats, respectively. Besides both have 100 BDS seats each. Authorities in these institutes confirmed that they were left with no vacant seats.

Missing craze

The craze for medical admissions may be on the wane, say educationists.

“A mere MBBS does not work these days and getting a postgraduate seat is not easy. Also a doctor needs at least 12 to 15 years to stabilise and start earning a decent income. Instead, engineering degree from a reputed institute is more rewarding. A four-year programme may be enough to start off on a very high salary,” said Prateek Sharma, a student. “I wanted my son to go for MBBS, but the mandatory rural postings is acting as a deterrent for him. When his classmates are into jobs in multinationals and IT companies getting a handsome salary, he doesn’t want to work in cholera and diarrhoea affected villages for a pittance,” said Rabinarayan Jena, father of a student.

Lukewarm response

The special Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) for admission against vacant engineering, MBA and MCA seats held in the state on Sunday after a prolonged legal battle, draw a lukewarm response from students.

Only 3,925 students took the test, while 10,871 had applied for the exam.

Over 33,000 BTech seats are still vacant in the state. Similarly, about 600 students took the test for MBA against over 3,400 vacant seats and only 60 students took the MCA entrance test for 2,400 seats. The total intake capacity of engineering colleges in the state is 51,121. These include 3,517 and 45,170 seats in government and private colleges, respectively.