New Delhi. There may be a major change in the system of admission to postgraduate (PG) medical seats. The 12-member expert committee constituted to review the NEET PG admission system has suggested abolishing the existing percentile based eligibility system and implementing a rank based merit system. The committee has filed this report in the Supreme Court. It is reported that the National Medical Commission (NMC) has given in-principle approval to this proposal for both NEET PG and Super Specialty Entrance Examination (NEET SS).
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Draft rules in this regard are expected to be issued soon. After this, suggestions and opinions will be sought from the concerned parties. The committee believes that along with improving the admission system, it is also necessary to maintain the minimum standards of medical education.
The matter is related to the decision to reduce the percentile of NEET PG.
This entire matter came to light after there was a huge reduction in the cutoff percentile prescribed for eligibility for NEET PG 2025. The Union Health Ministry had made a big cut in the eligibility marks to fill the vacant PG medical seats. The qualifying score for the general category was reduced from 276 to 103. This score for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes was reduced from 235 to -40.
The Supreme Court had raised questions on this decision. A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe had expressed concern over such a huge reduction in the eligibility percentile. The bench had said that such cuts appear to be affecting the quality of medical education. The court had also made it clear that even though this is a policy decision of the government, it will investigate it.
After this, the Supreme Court had directed the Central Government to conduct a comprehensive audit of the existing NEET admission system, identify its shortcomings and suggest practical solutions. The report of the expert committee has been presented under this instruction.
What concerns did the committee express on the quality of medical education?
In an affidavit filed in the court on behalf of the Central Government, the expert committee said that in view of the number of vacant seats, the competent authorities have reduced the eligibility percentile, but it is necessary to maintain the minimum standards of PG medical education. The Committee clarified that the importance of competitive examinations should not be limited to mere administrative formality.
What suggestions were given to fill the vacant PG medical seats?
The expert committee has suggested several measures to overcome the problem of vacant seats in PG medical courses.
Suggestion to reduce fees of non-clinical courses
The committee has asked the state fee setting committees and competent authorities to consider separate fee arrangements for clinical and non-clinical subjects. Under this, it has been suggested to keep the fees of non-clinical courses low, so that the candidates are encouraged to enroll in these subjects.
Exemption from service bond in pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects
The committee has suggested that candidates taking admission in pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects should be exempted from service bondage. This can reduce the problem of seats remaining vacant in these subjects.
Suggestion to conduct additional rounds of counseling
The committee said that to avoid seats remaining vacant, additional rounds of counseling are being conducted following the directions of the Supreme Court. However, the committee also cautioned that the additional steps increase the time taken by the entire counseling process.
Preparation to rein in candidates who block seats
The committee has suggested that the examination conducting bodies National Testing Agency (NTA) and National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) should consider arranging for identity verification and biometric verification. Its purpose is to prevent candidates who appear in entrance examinations with the sole intention of holding a seat rather than seeking admission.
Consideration on vacant seats of Dental and Nursing also
The committee has suggested creating more employment opportunities for dental and nursing graduates. Apart from this, it has also been suggested to consider closing the seats which remain vacant for two to three years continuously and reducing the fees of these courses.
What changes were made to prevent delay in medical counselling?
The Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) told the expert panel that several changes have been made in the counseling process for 2026-27. Their aim is to reduce delays and hassles for candidates.
Freeze and float range system
Under the new system, candidates have been divided into two categories based on their preferences.
Freeze: In this the candidate wants to retain his allotted seat.
Float: In this, the candidate accepts the allotted seat and wants to upgrade it if he gets a better seat.
Candidates choosing float option can accept their allotted seat online. You can also apply for seat upgrade. For this they will not need to go personally to the concerned institute.
Other admission related processes are also online
After seat upgrade, the process of releasing the candidate from his earlier allotted seat has also been made online. Other than this:
The candidate has to deposit the fees only once.
The fees will be deposited in the same institution where he/she ultimately decides to take admission.
Documents can be uploaded online.
Nodal officers of the institutions will verify the documents online.
How did the figures of seats in medical colleges improve?
National Medical Commission has been linked to the counseling portal of MCC. This will help in directly sharing and verifying the seat details of medical colleges. Earlier, medical colleges used to send their seat details directly to MCC. MCC then had to manually match this data with NMC records. In the new system, NMC has been directly linked to the counseling portal. According to the committee, this has eliminated the problem of duplication in details of seats. It has also helped in arranging counseling programme.
What new system is suggested for counseling in the coming years?
The expert committee has given five major suggestions to improve the future counseling process.
NMC, NBEMS and NTA should provide the details of verified seats well before the commencement of counselling. MCC should prepare a fixed schedule of counseling for every academic year and course and place the same before the Supreme Court for approval.
To streamline counselling, standard operating procedures should be prepared and updated every year. Regular meetings should be organized with the concerned parties before and after counselling, so that the shortcomings and frequently encountered problems can be identified. An online system should be developed to send the NEET results directly to the counseling authority of the state.
What question did the petitioner's lawyer raise on the committee's report?
After the presentation of the committee's report in the Supreme Court, advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, appearing for one of the petitioners, raised questions on this proposal. He argued that instead of justifying the decision of drastic reduction in the eligibility cutoff marks, the committee has now proposed to change the system of determining the marks.
Rajput said that now the irony is that they are moving from percentile to rank based system. What is the difference? However, the Supreme Court granted time to the petitioners to file their reply on the expert committee report. After this the court adjourned the hearing of the case.