No clarity over common MBBS, BDS counselling in deemed varsities in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Uncertainty looms over Centre’s mandatory common counselling for MBBS, BDS courses as the Odisha government is yet to clarify the modalities on how the directive will be implemented for deemed universities.

The Central government has already sent a letter making it mandatory to have common counselling for admission to Under Graduate and Post Graduate courses in all medical institutions.

In a letter sent to all principal secretaries of States and Union Territories, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted, “There shall be no exemption from common counselling and all institutions including private medical colleges/ Deemed Universities shall be covered under it.”

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“The Government of India has given clear instructions on March 10 that the MBBS and BDS admissions will be conducted through common counselling. In this regard, there is no clarity on the percentages to be considered for deemed universities. So, we will wait for the State government to take a clear decision and conduct the counselling likewise,” said OJEE chairman Tushar Kumar Nath.

In an earlier notification the Centre had asked the State governments that they may preferably conduct common counselling for all medical colleges for admissions into PG courses. However, the State government did not go for common counselling and the deemed universities conducted their own counselling to fill up the seats.

“This is an opportunity for the Odisha government to implement this step which will benefit the students,” says educationist, Pritish Acharya.