Even before the end of the academic year, the Dental Council of India (DCI) and the Department of Dental Sciences of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have ordered closure of AECS Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre on Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru.
Sources said that DCI closed the dental college on the request of the management.
However, students enrolled in BDS and MDS courses in the college have not been shifted to other colleges.
According to the sources, the management of AECS Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre had submitted a request to the DCI to close the college due to poor enrolment, shortage of faculty, and lack of necessary infrastructure, among other reasons.
In 2024-25, a total of 69 students, including 30 each in the 3rd and 4th year BDS courses, and 9 in the MDS courses, were enrolled in the college.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the DCI had issued an order on March 6, 2025 withdrawing recognition to AECS Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, and suspended admissions for BDS and MDS courses for the year 2025-26.
The DCI had informed the government of Karnataka in a letter dated April 1, 2025, and asking officials to shift the students to other dental colleges within the State. The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) decided to conduct counselling through Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). and shift the students.
The DME wrote to KEA in this regard.
Counselling yet to take place
However, due to lack of clarity from the DME about which colleges the students should be transferred to and confusion about the college fees, the KEA cancelled the counselling that was supposed to be held on May 16.
“I am pursuing third year BDS course. I need one-and-a-half years to complete the course. Some students are in the third and fourth year of the BDS course. When the management decided to close the college, we had expressed our opposition. We had requested that the college not be closed until our courses are completed. Now, the transfer to another college is being delayed,” a student told The Hindu.
Prasanna H., Executive Director of KEA, said, “Without discussing with us, the DME has written a letter and has fixed the counselling date for the shifting of students to other colleges. However, the CET-2025 admission process is underway. We cannot organise the counselling of AECS Maaruti dental college students in the midst of the CET-2025 admission process.”
“It is possible that some students have taken admission in AECS Maaruti dental college through KEA, and some directly through management quota. We have informed the DME that if they give consent in writing regarding which college should be allotted to which student, appropriate action will be taken,” he added.
B.L. Sujatha Rathod, Director of DME, said, “The AECS Maaruti dental college management had been saying for many years that it would close the college due to personal reasons. But it was told to complete the existing batches and then close it. However, the DCI has given permission to close the college from 2025-26. As per the DCI order, the information about the supernumerary seats available in dental colleges has been obtained and submitted to KEA to transfer students to different colleges. KEA will conduct counselling as soon as possible, and allot seats on the basis of merit.”
Published – May 23, 2025 12:54 pm IST
