PUDUCHERRY: A total of 33 MBBS seats under Scheduled Caste (SC) and Backward Tribe (BT) categories remained vacant at the end of the first round of CENTAC counselling on Wednesday.
Out of the 127 seats at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, the four seats that remained vacant included one BT and three SC (Karaikal).
In the seven private medical colleges, out of 265 seats, 29 are vacant with 27 seats under SC category and two under BT category. At Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, which is fighting a legal battle against surrender of seats to government, all seats were taken up, which means that all the 29 seats are vacant in six medical colleges.
Six seats are vacant in Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (BT-1, SC-5), 8 in Venkateswara Medical College ( SC-7, BT-1), one seat in Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical college ( BT-1), four in Arupadai Veedu Medical College ( SC-4), four in Vinayaga Mission Medical College (SC-4) and six seats in Sri Lakshminarayana Institute of Medical Sciences (SC-6).
Since 1,003 students have been called for the first round of counselling, only a few SC students were there in the list to secure the seat. The SC seats are likely to be filled up during the second round of counselling. More seats are likely to fall vacant after the end of JIPMER MBBS counselling ending on July 12.
Also, five seats are vacant in Government Dental College, while 16 seats are vacant in private dental colleges.