The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has initiated a crucial special stray vacancy round for undergraduate medical admissions, offering a final opportunity for aspiring doctors to secure one of 48 vacant MBBS seats across various deemed universities in the country. This round, announced on Thursday, provides a last chance for candidates in the ongoing admission cycle.
Seat Distribution and State-Wise Vacancies
The seat matrix released by the MCC reveals the distribution of these precious seats. A significant portion is located in South India, with nine vacancies in Tamil Nadu and eight in Puducherry. Other states with available MBBS seats in deemed universities include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttarakhand. This special round is conducted centrally by the MCC for all deemed university seats nationwide.
Tamil Nadu's Separate Counselling Schedule
Parallelly, the state selection committee in Tamil Nadu has announced its own schedule for filling vacancies in other categories of medical colleges. Counselling for vacant MBBS seats in government medical colleges, self-financing colleges, and state private universities will begin on December 20. According to sources, this round will address 21 MBBS seats in the state that remained unfilled after four previous rounds of counselling.
In a related development, the state committee has already completed a fifth additional stray vacancy round for BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) courses as per the central schedule. While the MCC withheld the results of this round, the Tamil Nadu committee proceeded to allot BDS seats to 26 candidates. In a notice issued on Thursday, the committee confirmed that students who have been allotted these BDS seats can retain them.
Flexibility for Aspiring MBBS Candidates
In a significant and student-friendly decision, authorities have introduced special flexibility for candidates participating in the special stray rounds. Normally, students who accept a seat in a stray vacancy round are not permitted to vacate it. However, considering the unique circumstances, an exception is being made.
"Normally, students allotted seats in the stray round will not be allowed to vacate seats. Considering the situation that some of them may have chances of pursuing MBBS, we will permit them," a senior official stated. This means candidates who have already been allotted a seat (like in the BDS round) will be allowed to participate in the special MBBS stray round, provided they pay a security deposit. However, once they choose to exit and participate, they will not be allowed to return to their originally allotted course.
The committee is making special arrangements to accommodate candidates who wish to participate in this special stray counselling, ensuring a streamlined process for those holding out hope for an MBBS seat in this final phase of admissions for the academic year.
