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Lower rank-holders grab the chance

BHUBANESWAR: Controversial admission to MBBS in private medical colleges ended here on Thursday with lower rank holders in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) picking up seats ignoring high fee structures. As many as 253 out of 255 seats available for JEE candidates in private medical colleges were filled as parents did not want to miss the chance. To fill the 660 seats, including 405 of government colleges, JEE authorities had to conduct two counselling sessions spreading over four days and invited 11,527 candidates.

“The percentage of admission is 99.21. Only two seats in city-based Institute of Medical Science remained vacant, while seats in two other private colleges got filled,” Sitaram Mohapatra, vice-chairman of JEE, said here on Thursday. He said 10,023 candidates were invited in the extended counselling that began from Wednesday. Response to BDS courses was meagre. Only 42 out of 290 seats were filled.

The process was mired in controversy with several meritorious students giving up the idea of seeking an admission to private medical colleges due to the high fee structure. The government fixed Rs. 3.75 lakh per annum for MBBS courses, Rs. 2.10 lakh was fixed up for BDS courses. In the first counselling from August 9 to 10, only 66 out of 255 seats were filled. Later, JEE authorities decided to invite lower rank holders on September 5 and 6.

A parent G. Reddy from Ganjam district said: “Since my daughter qualified in the examination, we don’t want to miss the chance..”

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