The allotment of seats for the second round of admissions at the all-India level will take place on October 19. (Representational/File)EVEN AS medical postgraduate (PG) aspirants are waiting for the second round of admissions in Maharashtra, there is no clarity on the number of seats that will be available in Round Two.
A significant chunk is reserved under the ‘in-service doctors quota’ and there is no update yet on the 400 seats excluded by the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) cell at the last minute owing to lack of necessary permissions.
After getting no relief from the Bombay High Court on their petition against the “untimely” implementation of the in-service doctors quota by the Maharashtra government, students said they don’t know if the excess seats under the quota will be included in the total seats for Round Two.
“Considering the 20 per cent reservation under this new quota, it comes to 240 seats. But as per the merit list declared by the Maharashtra CET cell, there are only 50 candidates applying under this category, which means 190 seats will remain vacant. The HC order only suggests that the state should consider adding these seats to the total seats for Round Two, but the CET cell has to provide clarity,” a candidate said.
The Maharashtra government last month implemented the in-service-doctors quota in medical PG admissions wherein 20 per cent of the total seats will be reserved for young doctors serving a three-year bond at government hospitals in interiors of the state. It was met with opposition because it was implemented after the registration for the first round of admission had already commenced.
Additionally, 400 seats were excluded from the total pool of 2,212 seats by the CET cell earlier this month owing to lack of necessary permissions from the authorities. The 400 seats which have been excluded includes around 200 seats in government medical colleges.
“It was declared by the CET cell that these seats will return to the total seats in the subsequent rounds after necessary permissions. There is no update yet on this. This is a considerable number of seats to remain out of the admission process, especially for Round Two,” said Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative.
The allotment of seats for the second round of admissions at the all-India level will take place on October 19. After the second national round, the second state round will be announced. But according to students, they require clarity on the number of seats before October 19. “It will help us gauge if we should confirm admission on allotted seats in the all-India quota or can hope for better seats through state quota,” a candidate said.