Ahmedabad: The first round of admissions to nursing and allied medical courses after Class XII has revealed a wide gap between available seats and student demand, with nearly 27,000 seats likely to remain vacant even if all allotted candidates complete their admissions.The admission committee had begun the counselling process for 48,280 seats across 1,024 colleges offering courses such as BSc Nursing, Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), GNM, ANM, Optometry, Occupational Therapy, Orthotics and Prosthetics, BASLP, and Naturopathy.In the first round, 27,169 students participated in choice filling, but only 21,388 were allotted seats. As a result, around 5,800 candidates who submitted preferences did not secure admission based on their merit rank and available choices.Candidates who have been allotted seats must confirm their admissions by Sep 18 and submit original documents by Sep 19. Officials said the exact number of vacant seats will be known only after the admission confirmation process is completed.Sources in the admission committee said that every year around 7,000 to 8,000 allotted candidates do not confirm their admissions for various reasons, a trend that could further increase the number of vacant seats this year.At present, even if all 21,388 allotted students confirm their admissions, 26,892 of the 48,280 approved seats would still remain unfilled.A similar situation was witnessed last year when more than 30,000 seats in paramedical and allied health courses remained vacant. In addition, over 150 colleges are awaiting approval. If these institutions receive clearance before the second round of counselling, their seats could be added to the admission process, increasing the number of available seats further.
