Medical counselling leads to vacancies in engineering, veterinary sciences

CHENNAI: The delayed counselling for MBBS/BDS seats based on the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) has led to a number of vacancies in seats across institutions. By Wednesday, 118 students who joined BE courses in Anna University had left their seats on account of MBBS counselling, College of Engineering dean T V Geeta said.
Authorities expect the number to climb as the process is still ongoing.A total of 256 students in the university have taken bonafide certificates for the medical counselling but all of them may not necessarily attend it. About 10 candidates have also returned to their engineering seats after attending the medical counselling, Geeta said.
Anna University officials have no plan right now to conduct recounselling for the seats left vacant.
If marks-based counselling had continued, experts in the education sector said, a large number of seats would now be vacant but with the court ruling that counselling be conducted based on NEET scores, the vacancies have been lower than expected.
SASTRA University said 31 students had taken TCs due to medical counselling.
"The loss with respect to engineering seats is more in terms of quality of students rather than quantity, since top-performing students are vacating seats," SASTRA University's Dr S Vaidhyasubramaniam said. "Last year, the timelines were very predictable, so there was no instance of the kind."
SRM University said around 11 students had opted out of engineering seats. However, the university also said that admissions had been lower this time.
"The avoidable delay has resulted in not only loss of precious medical seats but also cases of deserving students losing seats or getting admitted in undeserving institutions," said an educationist.
Meanwhile, 43 students who joined veterinary science courses have left them with a view to getting medical seats in government or private medical colleges in the state.
Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas) vice chancellor S Thilagar told TOI that the actual number of students who left veterinary science courses will be known only after the counselling for both government medical colleges and deemed universities is over.
The Veterinary Council of India has set Wednesday as the deadline for completing the counselling. However, Tanuvas will hold at least two more counselling sessions to fill the vacancies in the university, Thilagar said.
Medical and dental counselling for government and self-financing colleges ends on September 4 and deemed universities will have to complete admission procedures by September 7, as directed by the Supreme Court.