Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Online counselling for admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the state’s government and private colleges is currently underway, with the first phase of registration receiving a cold response.

According to the data released by the Department of Higher Education (DHE), around 3.25 lakh students have registered so far, accounting for 31 per cent of the total available seats.

Out of the 10.17 lakh seats available, which include 8 lakh for undergraduate and 2.17 lakh for postgraduate programmes, 2.35 lakh students have applied for UG courses while 1.10 lakh have submitted applications for PG courses.

Counselling is underway for more than 36 courses, including BA, BCom, BSc, BSW, BHSc, BJMC, LLB, BA LLB, BBA LLB, BCom LLB, MCom, MSc, MSW and LLM. The merit list will be prepared based on students’ marks in qualifying exams and the DHE will allot seats.

The application verification process will continue till Sunday, after which the allotment lists will be released on June 12. Students will then be able to take admission to their preferred courses and institutions. Online fee payment will be open from June 13 to June 18.

Ashish Tiwari, director of a participating college, noted a significant rise in registrations following the declaration of results for the third and fourth year of graduation programmes.

Colleges under Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) have also reported robust activity. There are 65,000 UG and 20,000 PG seats in 240 colleges affiliated to DAVV. In professional education, the state is offering 62,000 seats in NCTE-recognized courses like BEd-MEd and BPEd-MPEd. Notably, 39,000 students have applied for these courses in the first phase alone. There are 7,000 B.Ed. seats across 43 DAVV-affiliated colleges.

Education expert Mohit Yadav highlighted the emphasis on ensuring student accessibility, with the DHE insisting on mobile number verification for smoother communication during seat allocation.