57% BDS seats in Punjab colleges vacant after second counselling

FARIDKOT : After two rounds of counselling for admissions to under-graduate dental courses by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences at Faridkot, 57% of the 1,330 bachelor of dental surgery (BDS) seats at Punjab’s 16 dental colleges are still vacant.

Of the total colleges, 11 private colleges, having 100 seats each, have failed to fill even 50% BDS seats. On the other hand, five colleges in Amritsar, Patiala and Ludhiana, including the two government colleges, have less than five seats left (see box).

To fill the vacant seats, the university on Saturday started the mop-up counselling round. The final provisional result will be announced on December 15, which will be followed by an online stray vacancy round on December 19.

High vacancy not a new trend

Notably, this is the 10th consecutive year that Punjab’s dental colleges are struggling to find eligible candidates, a trend seen in many other states of the country, especially in private colleges.

In 2014, 104 of the 1,190 seats remained vacant, with the number rising to 540 the next year. Even after lowering the qualifying cut-off percentile by 10 points for each category, the number of unclaimed seats stood at 355 in the 2019-20 session and jumped to 503 in 2021-22.

Experts attribute this to dentistry not offering many opportunities, unlike MBBS.

Besides, setting up a private practice involves a huge financial investment due to the infrastructure required.

“Emigration after Class 12 is another major reason, as several students from Punjab prefer to move abroad. Also, with almost no placement opportunities for dentists, many medical students prefer to join allied medical courses instead of BDS, which also entails a higher fee,” said former BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr SS Gill.

77 MBBS seats vacant in 10 medical colleges

Meanwhile, after completion of two rounds of counselling for admissions to the MBBS course, 77 state quota seats remain available at 10 medical colleges, including three run by the government.

In all, 11 colleges in the state offer 1,444 MBBS seats, including 594 state quota seats in four government colleges.

Among them, Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences,

Mohali, is the only one that managed to fill all 85 state quota seats.

The Medical Counselling Committee holds admissions for 105 all-india quota (15%) seats at the government medical colleges and counselling for the 85% state quota seats is conducted by BFUHS.

Out of the 77 vacant seats, the majority (54) are at two colleges — 28 at Chintpurni Medical College, Pathankot, and 26 at Adesh Insititute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda.

EXPERTS ATTRIBUTE FEW TAKERS FOR BDS SEATS TO DENTISTRY NOT OFFERING MANY OPPORTUNITIES, UNLIKE MBBS

Colleges told not to collect excess fee

BFUHS has directed universities and colleges not to collect excess fee or any other charges other than the fee mentioned in the August 22 government notification for under-graduate admissions. The university has also asked colleges not to force students to pay hostel fee.

University registrar Dr Nirmal Ouseppachan, in a notice said, “...hostel is not compulsory. Therefore, provisionally selected candidates cannot be forced to pay the hostel fee.”

The notice added that paid study material or books will not be provided by any college or university: “It is the discretion of the candidate to buy or arrange the books and study material to attend the classes.”