Much to the dismay of medical and dental colleges in the state, only 10 candidates have applied for 389 vacant NRI-quota MBBS and BDS seats ahead of the third round of counselling beginning on October 6.According to revised seat matrices released by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), 808 MBBS and BDS seats remained vacant after the second round. Of these, 175 NRI-quota seats are in MBBS and 214 in BDS. While 3,297 applicants are in the fray for the 419 non-NRI vacant seats, the NRI category has drawn barely any interest.Fifteen per cent of seats are reserved for NRI candidates. With fees of USD 1.10 lakh for MBBS and USD 44,000 for the full BDS course, these seats are a key source of revenue for colleges. Unfilled NRI seats are converted into general-category seats.The MBBS matrix shows 307 vacant seats, about 17 per cent of the state’s 1,800 seats across 12 colleges. Private colleges account for 209 of these, while government colleges account for 98. Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, has the highest number of vacancies at 51, including 38 NRI seats. Among private institutions, Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences, Bathinda, has 46 vacant seats, followed by Sri Guru Ram Das Institute, Amritsar, with 43, and Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, Jalandhar, with 35.In dentistry, 501 of 1,350 seats remain vacant across 17 colleges, including 214 NRI seats. RIMT Dental College, Mandi Gobindgarh, tops the list with 46 vacancies, followed by Sri Sukhmani Dental College, Dera Bassi, with 45. Dasmesh Institute, Faridkot, has 25 vacant seats, 14 of them in the NRI category.