Chennai: Even after three rounds of counselling by the Centre’s medical counselling committee, 802 MBBS seats across India remain vacant. In Tamil Nadu, 136 MBBS seats, including 22 in government medical colleges and nine in AIIMS-Madurai, were left unfilled as students did not join their allotted institutions.
Officials said these seats would now be available for the stray vacancy round, where the penalty for not joining after being allotted a seat is higher. The Medical Counselling Committee conducts online counselling for admissions to Central medical institutions, 15% of all India quota seats in state-run medical colleges, and deemed universities. Despite the merit-based system, 389 seats under the all-India quota, 334 in deemed universities, and 38 in Central institutions remain open, along with seats from special categories such as Jain minority, NRI, and armed forces quotas.
Experts have blamed recurring delays in medical admissions on confusing rules. Student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam said that in the third round, all seats were allotted, yet many students still opted out. In earlier rounds, candidates were allowed to exit and reapply, but by the third round, penalties apply. Students who pay and later withdraw risk denying others an affordable government seat, forcing them to seek admission in costlier private institutions.
The Tamil Nadu state counselling committee is now awaiting the completion of admissions from the third round. The stray vacancy round is scheduled for the second week of November.
