Review of preparations for NEET UG 2026 counselling, many major reforms implemented in the interest of students

New Delhi. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda conducted a detailed review of the preparations for NEET UG 2026 counselling.

During this, he directed the officials that the counseling process for admission to medical undergraduate courses across the country should be completely transparent, fair, merit based and technology-enabled.

Also, active and effective arrangements should be ensured at every level to resolve the complaints and problems of the candidates.

The review meeting assessed the preparedness of the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and other concerned agencies.

The counseling schedule, IT infrastructure, cyber security, grievance redressal mechanism, support services for candidates and coordination with medical institutions were reviewed in the meeting.

JP Nadda said in this meeting that this year many important reforms have been implemented to make the counseling process easier and student friendly. The biggest change is one-time physical reporting.

Now candidates will not have to go to college again and again for reporting. After seat allotment, students will be able to select ‘Freeze’ or ‘Float’ option online.

Candidates choosing the ‘Freeze’ option will complete the admission process by visiting the respective institute within the stipulated time, while students choosing the ‘Float’ option will be able to appear in the next round for upgradation and during this time they will not be required to be physically present at the institute.

The facility of online document verification and online registration has also been introduced in the counseling process. This will eliminate the need for candidates to visit the college for document verification or surrender their seat and will make the entire process more transparent and convenient.

This time special arrangements have also been made for disabled candidates. The number of their evaluation centers has been increased from 16 to 61, so that candidates across the country can get better facilities.

In addition, a provision for Appellate Disability Assessment Board has also been made for the candidates to appeal against the assessment.

NRI category admission has also been made completely digital. Now the entire process of registration, document upload and verification will be online. This will make the process more transparent, time bound and easier.

Cyber ​​security preparedness was also reviewed in the meeting. The security of the counseling portal has been strengthened with the help of National Informatics Centre. Besides, training has also been given to Document Verification Officers, College Nodal Officers and Disability Assessment Boards.

A 24×7 toll-free helpline (1800-102-7637) and email facility has been made available to assist the candidates. Apart from this, bilingual information materials and guidance videos are also being released.