MCC Ultimatum: PG medical aspirants to be debarred from next NEET PG, lose Rs 50,000 if they do not join allotted seats

New Delhi: Taking cognizance of 2,244 vacant post-graduate seats, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has introduced stringent conditions for appearing in the Special Stray Vacancy Round of NEET-PG 2022 counselling.

As per the new rules, introduced by MCC, candidates who do not join the seats allotted to them in Special Stray Vacancy Round will be debarred from appearing in NEET PG 2023 examination.

Not only this, but the counselling authority has also made it clear that such candidates will be required to pay a Refundable Security Deposit of Rs. 50,000 for participation in Special Stray Vacancy Round.

However, for the candidates who will not join seats allotted to them, the said 50,000 rupees shall be forfeited, MCC clarified in the recent notice dated January 3, 2023.

Also Read:MCC Releases Final Results For 2nd Mop-Up Round NEET UG Counselling

Such a decision has been taken by MCC and the Central Government after taking note of the fact that altogether 2,244 post-graduate medical seats are not filled even after the completion of four rounds of counselling.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the doctors had expressed their concern over the huge number of vacant PG medical seats belonging to clinical specialties. Taking up this issue, the doctors under the umbrella of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) had approached the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

"Hence, in the larger interest of candidates, the competent authority has decided to conduct a Special Stray Vacancy Round for the vacant 2244 PG (MD/MS/Diploma/PG DNB) and 62 MDS seats in an online mode as per approval accorded by MoHFW, so that the precious seats do not go waste," it further mentioned.

Among the several rules for appearing in the Special Stray Vacancy round of counselling, MCC has decided that the candidates who will not join seats allotted to them in the Special round will have to forfeit Rs 50,000, the deposit amount. Further, they will be debarred from appearing in NEET PG 2023.

According to rules, State-run medical colleges give up 50% of their PG medical seats every year in order to provide admission to candidates under the All India Quota (AIQ). Therefore, when these seats remain vacant, States put pressure on the Central Government to ensure that these seats belonging to Government institutes do not goes to waste since there are many aspirants who would gladly accept these seats.

Also Read: More than 300 Clinical Seats Vacant: Doctors demand special round of NEET PG Counselling

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, this year, Tamil Nadu has given up almost 1000 MD and MS seats in addition to diploma seats at more than 23 medical colleges. The central council announced a special stray vacancy round for the vacancy beginning January 6 on Tuesday. The state selection committee has not given details of the number of postgraduate medical seats lying vacant in its colleges. However, officials said that a request had been made for the extension of counselling to fill the existing vacant seats.

The decision has made some candidates extremely happy as they think that it will stop wastage of seats. "The committee must bring in stringent rules to ensure that their efforts and students' time are not wasted. When admissions are delayed, students join class sometimes two months after college begins," Dr R Nelson, one of the PG aspirants told TOI.

Those who already registered in the previous round will have to submit their fresh choices between January 6 to January 8. Moreover, students will have to pay a refundable deposit of Rs. 50000 which is to be forfeited in case the seat is not taken. All the seats will be processed by the committee on January 9th and finally the result will be published on January 10th.

Those who will be allotted the seats during the counselling will have to join the colleges before 5:00 p.m. on January 14th. According to the official notice, those candidate who did not accept their seats during the Mop Up and Stray counselling will not be allowed to be a part in this round. Such candidates may also face legal actions.

However, some deemed to be universities said that they had secured central approval to enrol students at a ratio of 1:10 between January 10 and January 14 out of the list forwarded by the centre. Whether government and central government institutions will also be allowed to conduct similar admissions ever after the deadline has not been clarified yet.

The rule position for Special Stray Vacancy Round is as under:

 No Fresh Registration will take place in Special Stray Vacancy Round. All pre-registered candidates who are not holding any seat are eligible to participate. However, candidates will have to do Fresh Choice Filling for Special Stray Vacancy Round. The earlier choices filled in previous rounds by the candidates will become ‘Null & Void’.

 All Registered candidates irrespective of their category are required to pay a Refundable Security Deposit of Rs. 50,000 for participation in Special Stray Vacancy Round.

 The Refundable Security Deposit of candidates who do not join the seats allotted to them in Special Stray Vacancy Round will be Forfeited.

 The candidates who do not join the seats allotted to them in Special Stray Vacancy Round will be DEBARRED FROM SITTING IN NEET PG 2023 EXAMINATION.

 Candidates who are not holding any Seat either in All India Quota or State Quota are eligible to participate in Special Stray Vacancy Round.

 Candidates who will be allotted seats in Special Stray Vacancy Round will have to report at the allotted Institute and join the seat with their original documents.

 Candidates participating in Special round will have to furnish an undertaking with respect to allotment of seats at the time of Choice Filling on MCC portal as under:

“I agree to participate in the Special Stray Vacancy Round of NEET-PG Counselling, 2022. I affirm that I am not holding any seat in the previous rounds of NEET-PG Counselling, 2022 i.e All India Counselling conducted by MCC or State Quota Counselling.

I understand that these seats are precious in nature. Hence, if I am allotted a seat during the Special Stray Vacancy Round, I will join the allotted seat. If, due to any reason I do not join the allotted seat my security deposit of 50,000 /- will be forfeited and I will be debarred from taking NEET PG 2023. Also, any action including legal action may be taken by the Competent Authority against me.”

It should be mentioned in this context that recently the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has informed the Parliament that altogether 744 MBBS and 9783 PG medical seats remained vacant in the last three years.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that, the data provided by the Health Minister regarding the unfilled MBBS and PG medical seats revealed that in case of PG medical seats, the total number of vacant seats is much higher in comparison. While the PG medical seats are only limited in number, the data shared by the Health Minister revealed that a huge number of 9783 PG medical seats remained vacant in the last three years.

For the academic year 2019-2020, the vacant PG medical seats were highest in number. Back then, altogether 4614 PG medical seats did not find any taker. In the next two academic years i.e. 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, altogether 1425 and 3744 PG medical seats remained vacant respectively, revealed the data.

Also Read: 2244 MD, MS, DNB seats still available: MCC Issues Notice for Special Stray Vacancy Round of PG Counselling