771 Gujarat MBBS-BDS allottees skip seats over fees

 771 Gujarat MBBS-BDS allottees skip seats over fees 

Many Eye Cheaper Alternatives Or Better Allotments 

Bharat.Yagnik@timesofindia.com 26.09.2026

Ahmedabad: For Meman Mohammad Shaikh, a resident of Salad village in Vadodara district, a confirmed admission at a private medical college came with a hefty price tag which his family could ill afford. The open-category candidate secured admission at Parul University, but the annual fee of about Rs 10 lakh made him abandon his long-held dream to study medicine. 

“My family cannot afford paying such exorbitant fees. I am now looking at a BHMS or BAMS course at another institute, where the annual fees of around Rs 2 lakh fit our budget,” said Meman, whose father runs a saree shop in Salad near Vadodara. 

“I have secured a government scholarship of about Rs 2 lakh and expect another Rs 2 lakh as financial assistance from my community. Despite this, my family will have to bear Rs 6 lakh for the first year itself and then Rs 10 lakh subsequently every year if I pursue the medical course,” he explains. 

Meman is among 771 students who were allotted MBBS or BDS seats in the first two rounds of Gujarat’s UG medical and dental counselling but have failed to confirm their admissions, according to data from the state Admission Committee for Professional Undergraduate Medical Educational Courses (ACPUGMEC). 

“Students leaving confirmed seats in MBBS and BDS courses in such high numbers is unprecedented,” said a senior member of the medical admission committee. High fees have emerged as a key concern among students who are weighing whether to accept their allotted seats or wait for the next round, officials said. 

Several students said they were considering dental, pharmacy, Ayurveda and homeopathy courses where the fee burden is lower. Uday Karavadra, who scored 421 in NEET and was allotted a seat at SAL Medical College, Ahmedabad, also declined admission in MBBS. 

“The annual fee of Rs 11.68 lakh would have taken the five-year cost to nearly Rs 55 lakh. My father is a farmer and under no circumstances can we afford such a high fee,” he said. Karavadra is now considering studying Ayurveda.  

Representational pic High fees have emerged as a key concern among students who are weighing whether to accept their allotted seats or wait for the next round