The registration for national-level counselling for undergraduate AYUSH courses for the academic year 2021–22 began on Saturday, 29 January.

Aspirants who have cleared the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET (UG), 2021, can register on the website www.aaccc.gov.in and do choice filling from Sunday, 30 January, onwards. The website is of the Ayush Admissions Central Counseling Committee.

(AYUSH is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. These are the six indigenous alternative medicine systems practised in India.)

No scope for changes or edits
The candidates must note that the information that you give during the registration would be final and wouldn’t get another chance to change or edit it. Applicants who register more than once would be debarred.

Four rounds of counselling
There are four rounds of counselling preceding the AYUSH course admissions. They are Round 1, 2, 3 ( (mop–up) and the stray vacancy round.

Aspirants may register before the first three rounds within the stipulated dates. The number of seats that are up for grabs would be less from the second round onwards.

Candidates wouldn’t be eligible for admission only because they got an allotment. They should meet all the eligibility criteria to secure admission to the courses.

They need to keep in mind the unique guidelines and fee structure of each institution before applying.

The seats
The undergraduate seats for which the counselling is being held are in the following institutions:

1)Government/aided colleges in all the states and Union Territories except Jammu and Kashmir. (The All–India quota is 15%.)
2)100% seats in Banaras Hindu University (Ayurveda), Delhi University (Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy) and deemed universities (all four branches)
3)100% seats except those for nominated candidates in the Institute of Teaching and Research, Jamnagar (Ayurveda); National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur; and National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata,
4) 50% in Aligarh Muslim University (Unani) and North-Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH), Shillong (Ayurveda and Homeopathy).

The seat allotment to 15% All–India quota at the private institutes that aren’t deemed universities would be done by the state governments. All the seats at minority institutions of Jain/ Muslim/ Hindi Linguistic communities are wholly reserved for these categories.

Share of reservation
Reservations are available as per the guidelines of the central government
1) for 15% All–India quota seats and at central universities and national institutes
2) 15% for Scheduled Castes
3) 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes
4) 27% for Other Backward Classes, and
5) 10% for Economically Weaker Sections.

The remaining 40.5% seats are open for the General category.

Also, 5% seats in each category are reserved for persons with disabilities.

Thiruvananthapuram Medical College is included in the list of 15 approved institutes that could issue certificates of disability.

Fee structure
Deemed universities: Rs 5,000 as registration fee and Rs 50,000 as security deposit. The candidates have to pay a total of Rs 55,000. There is no waiver for any categories.

All central seats including All–India quota (barring deemed universities): Rs 1,000 for registration. The security deposit would be Rs 10,000. That would be a total of Rs 11,000. Meanwhile, it is Rs 500 and Rs 10,000 for Scheduled Castes/Tribes and persons with disabilities, making for a total of Rs 10,500.

The payment page would be opened as soon as you complete the registration. Fee could be paid using net banking/card.

Other guidelines
The mobile number and the email id that were given during the application for NEET should be used for registration. A new password should be created and kept for further use. It is better to use a computer/laptop for choice filling and not a mobile phone.

The applicants can submit any number of choices.

Do not forget to lock in the choices. The choices could be re-set or re-arranged until they are locked. In case the candidate doesn’t lock the choices, it would be automatically locked at the stipulated time. Then follows the processing and allotment.

Those who didn’t get seats despite registering for the first round need not register in the second round. Similarly, those who didn’t get any seats allotted in the first and second rounds need not re-register for the mop-up round. However, they need to do the choice filling again.

Meanwhile, there is no registration for the stray vacancy round.

Even the MCC cannot unlock the choices once they are locked in. So, the applicants need to be careful and double check before locking the choices.

Upgradation and free exit
Upgradation and free exit are possible only in the first round. However, the candidates have to reach the college and join in order to retain the seat that has been allotted in the first round. They can then request for upgradation. If the upgradation is allowed, then the aspirants should strictly get a relieving letter before giving up the first seat.

Those who got a seat in the first round but didn’t get an upgradation in the second round can give up the first one without losing the security deposit (free exit). However, if they didn’t give up the seat within five days after the second allotment is announced, the admission in the first round would be considered as retained. Besides, the candidate wouldn’t get another chance at counselling.

Those who didn’t join the seat that has been allotted in the second round can choose free exit. In case they join the college, the candidate can still leave the seat until three days before the mop-up round begins. They wouldn’t lose their security deposit.

However, the applicant would be considered as disqualified if he/she doesn’t choose such an ‘exit’ option. Then they cannot attend the AYUSH counselling anywhere including the states. The security deposit would be lost if the candidate doesn’t join the college after they receive seat in the mop-up or the stray vacancy round. They would be disqualified too.

If the aspirant gets an upgradation after securing a seat in the second or the mop-up rounds, the current seat would be lost.

Those candidates who join a college after securing seat in the mop-up allotment wouldn’t be considered during the state counselling.

Documents needed
The list of documents that need to be submitted while joining the college are given in the counselling bulletin (pages 21,22). However, the candidates should go through the website of the respective college or contact them directly to enquire whether they require any additional documents.

Click on the ‘Archives’ link in the ‘News & Events’ section on the UG counselling web page to get an idea about the scope of admission based on your position in the rank list. The category-based list of the last ranks at which the candidates got admission in 2020–21 would be in the website.

Helpline: 9354529990.