Status of 2 private universities, affiliation of one still awaited ahead of second medical admission round in Maharashtra

Mumbai: With the second round of Maharashtra’s medical and dental admission process set to begin on Tuesday, uncertainty continues over the inclusion of seats from at least four private colleges -- three medical and one dental.

While the status of two private health sciences universities, which includes two medical and one dental college, remains pending, the issue of affiliation of Pune’s Kashibai Navale Medical College is also not yet resolved.

The inclusion of these four private colleges in the counselling process will add around 700 seats.

The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) did not grant affiliation to the Pune college this year. While the college moved court against MUHS for administrative delays in granting affiliation, it is still awaited, said a government official. Last year, the dental college run by the same trust was also involved in an affiliation dispute with the university.

Students awaiting the addition of these seats to the counselling process are also unclear whether admissions to the two proposed universities will be conducted entirely through the state CET Cell.

Balasaheb Vikhe Patil University (formerly VVPF college) and Lata Mangeshkar University (includes formerly NKP Salve Medical College and Ranjeet Deshmukh Dental College) recently received the state cabinet’s approval to become private health sciences universities.

Under the amended Maharashtra Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Act, 2023, 40% of the seats at the two universities will be reserved for students domiciled in Maharashtra, while the remaining 60% will be open to students from across the country. Admissions to the 40% state quota seats in these universities will be conducted by the state’s CET Cell. For the remaining 60% seats, the state government has written to the Centre seeking their inclusion in the counselling process conducted by the central Medical Counselling Committee. The two universities were also to be included in the schedule of the state Act.

Meanwhile, 8,001 students have secured seats in the medical and dental courses in the first round of the admission. Of the total 10,646 seats available, 2,645 are available for the second round as of now. The seat matrix for the second round will be made available on Monday.

Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative, said that students need to know about these colleges at least by the start of the third round. “The government should have ensured all the administrative procedures are completed before the admission process. After the third round, students will not get a chance to upgrade and may end up losing good seats,” she said.