ONLY35OF300 NRI SEATS FILLED IN MBBS, BDS COURSES

FARIDKOT : Of 300 seats in MBBS and BDS in private and government medical colleges in the state, only 35 have been filled, officials at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, said on Friday. Fortyone students had registered for online counselling.

The vacant NRI seats in government colleges will be merged with the general quota seats. Seats in private colleges will be merged with management quota seats.

There are 136 MBBS seats for NRI candidates — including 95 seats in private institutes and 41 seats in government colleges. In BDS, the state offers 157 seats in private colleges and seven in government institutes.

Officials from the varsity claimed that only 32 MBBS seats were filled and 104 seats remained vacant. In dental total of 161 seats remained vacant with just three candidates availing the seats.

For NRIs, 15% seats have been reserved in all private institutes and Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot. Also, 13 seats each have been reserved in Government Medical College, Patiala and Amritsar, along with three seats in Government Dental College, Amritsar, and four in Patiala. The varsity authorities took an undertaking from candidates that students will have to follow the fee structure of Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College (SGRDC), Amritsar, that the Punjab and Haryana high court will decide in due course.

“SGRDC wanted to decrease the fee for medical and dental courses. The matter is subjudice. Students have been informed regarding the litigation and they will have to follow court directions,” said a varsity official.