‘Simultaneous AYUSH admissions thoughtless’

MUMBAI: Activists are concerned about students blocking seats at multiple colleges with all three admission rounds for AYUSH (ayurveda, homeopathy, unani) going on simultaneously this year. In many cases, students have been allotted two seats in the same college, through the state as well as the all-India process, which makes it a thoughtless exercise, say parents.
For the first time, three admission processes for AYUSH colleges are running simultaneously—one for 85% state seats, other for 15% all-India quota seats and 15% for state’s private colleges. While the first two rou-nds happen every year, the third process has been added this year to fill the 15% seats in private colleges, where applications are also being allowed from other states. Separate processes are on simultaneously. The second round for all-India quota ends January 9, while the other two processes on January 12.
Muzaffar Khan, a counsellor, said because of these faulty decisions many seats remain vacant throughout. Parent representative, Sudha Shenoy, said 15% institutional quota seats in private colleges were filled as part of the state’s process in the single form till last year. “This year, students had to pay Rs 5,000 more to register for the institutional round. As a result, in the mop-round, the same students will be allotted seats again and there will be more vacant seats in the end, which will all go to the institutes,” she said, adding that there will be no monitoring there.