Doctors demand clarity on NEET SS 2025 counselling schedule, seek Health Ministry, NMC intervention

New Delhi: Highlighting how the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Super Speciality (NEET SS) 2025 aspirants are suffering due to a lack of clarity regarding the counselling schedule and the continued delay in the commencement of the academic session, a doctors' body has urged the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission (NMC) to intervene.

The counselling for the superspeciality admissions came to a standstill due to the pending legal proceedings before the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear the matter on Friday.

Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) Doctors Association has highlighted that due to this administrative deadlock, instead of starting their academic session on April 10, 2026, thousands of super-speciality doctors are facing forced unemployment, resulting in their mental and financial distress.

Amid this, the association has urged the Ministry and NMC to find an interim solution. Terming the NEET SS counselling deadlock as a "system failure", the association wrote on X, "According to the MCC, the academic session was supposed to begin on April 10, 2026. Instead, this administrative deadlock has forced thousands of super-specialty doctors into forced unemployment, pushing them into unprecedented mental & financial distress Many resigned from their SR positions expecting a seamless transition. Now, with the Hon'ble SC hearing postponed to May 29, 2026, everything is at a standstill. While courts take summer vacations, residents serve 24/7/365 through violence & severe burnout. Why are the careers of India’s top specialists on standby? FAIMA urge @MoHFW_INDIA & @NMC_IND to find an interim solution or run parallel counseling. Stop paralyzing our medical infrastructure."

Also Read: Doctors' body urges MCC to expedite NEET SS 2025 counselling, flag distress, unemployment due to delay

Last month, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) extended the choice filling process for Round 2 of NEET SS Counselling 2025 until further orders, citing an ongoing legal matter in the Supreme Court of India.

As a result, the counselling process for superspeciality medical admissions has come to a standstill. Earlier, FAIMA had written to MCC to expedite the counselling process and explore the possibility of proceeding with subsequent rounds of counselling in parallel with the legal process, if permissible.

Commenting on the situation, Dr. Lakshya Jha, National Vice President of FAIMA, told Medical Dialogues, “The continued delay in NEET SS counselling is not merely an administrative issue; it has evolved into a national healthcare workforce crisis. Thousands of highly trained super-specialty doctors are currently stuck in uncertainty despite the academic session being scheduled to commence on April 10, 2026. Many doctors resigned from existing Senior Residency posts in anticipation of timely counselling and are now facing severe financial insecurity, professional stagnation, and mental distress.”

“India already faces an acute shortage of super-specialists in tertiary healthcare. Keeping these doctors in limbo directly affects patient care, hospital manpower, and critical healthcare delivery. FAIMA strongly urges the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission to explore an interim mechanism or parallel counselling process so that the careers of young specialists and the healthcare infrastructure are not held hostage to prolonged procedural delays," he added.

Reaction on Social Media: 

In response to the situation, an X user named Dr. Neel Vaidya wrote, "Pathetic and shameful display by MCC & Union Health Ministry in the Supreme Court today on the NEET-SS matter. Completely unprepared, clueless, and insensitive while counselling remains on hold and thousands of doctors’ futures hang in uncertainty."

"NEET SS counselling continues to be delayed,leaving the future of thousands of aspirants hanging in uncertainty .Careers, training timelines, and personal lives remain on hold,Aspirants deserve transparency, accountability, and a clear counselling schedule," wrote another doctor, further adding that, "NTA, NMC, NBE, and MCC competing in the ultimate rat race: who can be more incompetent, more opaque, and torture future/current doctors the most. Delayed counselling, endless uncertainty, no accountability, and careers hanging in limbo while aspirants suffer silently."

"Why must India's highest-qualified doctors beg the MCC just to join their courses?" questioned an X user.

Also Read: NEET SS 2025: Supreme court hearing on May 25 as candidates await counselling