In a significant move aimed at addressing the issue of vacant seats in undergraduate medical courses across India, the Centre has announced an additional round of admissions for MBBS courses. This decision comes in response to a directive from the Supreme Court and aims to utilize approximately 2,200 unoccupied MBBS seats, including 156 under the all-India quota. The extended deadline for concluding all admissions has been set for November 15.
A notable portion of these vacant seats became available due to recent invalidations by the National Medical Commission (NMC), which cited violations of norms. In Maharashtra alone, 141 admissions were invalidated due to institute-level admissions practices that were not permitted by the NMC for the current academic year.
Following these developments, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sought an extension of the admission deadline to prevent the wastage of valuable medical seats. Several state governments and students had been advocating for this extension, prompting the Centre’s response.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), operating under the Directorate General of Health Services, has announced a special stray vacancy round in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order. This round aims to fill all vacant undergraduate seats, covering MBBS, BDS, BSc, and nursing courses under both all-India and state quotas.
Notably, some of these vacant seats are in high-demand government colleges. The Centre, while informing the Supreme Court about the 2,182 vacant MBBS seats, emphasized that this count includes seats that became available after the recent NMC circular.
According to an official from the Ministry, states have the authority to conduct counseling for the invalidated seats, provided they follow the proper NMC-approved process. Admissions that were invalidated due to missed deadlines may also be regularized.
The state of Maharashtra, which had 141 admissions invalidated, clarified that it had no vacancies as of the September 30 deadline. The state has requested acceptance of the 141 canceled admissions and is awaiting a response. In light of the substantial number of vacant MBBS seats, the extended deadline for all admissions has been fixed at November 15.
