485 MBBS, 247 PG Medical Seats Still Went Vacant in 2023: MoS Health tells parliament

New Delhi: As per the data provided by the National Medical Commission (NMC), a total number of 485 Undergraduate (UG- MBBS) and 247 Postgraduate (PG) Medical seats ( that is MS, MD and DNB seats) under the All India Quota have gone vacant for this academic year, the Union Minister of State for Health, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

While informing about the vacant medical seats, the MoS Health further referred to the measures taken by the Health Ministry to fill up the vacant seats- including reducing the cut-off to zero percentile and conducting special stray vacancy rounds for PG counselling.

The Minister was responding to the questions raised by Parliament member Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, who questioned the Ministry regarding the number of vacant UG and PG medical seats in the current academic session along with reasons.

He also asked the Minister to confirm whether for the first time percentile has been dropped to zero, whether it is a fact that students were granted PG seats even when they scored low. He also asked if General candidates who scored less than SC/ST candidates were also allotted seats. Finally, he sought the details of the steps taken by the Government to resolve the crisis.

Responding to these queries, the MoS Health informed that the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) conducts the counselling for UG and PG medical courses as per the scheme devised by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.

She also provided the details regarding the vacant UG and PG medical seats and mentioned, "In the current academic year, the total number of vacant UG seats is 485 as informed by National Medical Commission."

"The percentile has been dropped to zero for PG admission to fill up the vacant seats, and therefore every candidate who appeared in NEET-PG becomes eligible to participate in counselling. Special stray vacancy rounds have been conducted for PG counselling in the current academic year to fill the seats. 247 seats under All India Quota for PGs have been reported to be vacant," she added.

Also Read: Why are MBBS, and PG Medical Seats Going Vacant? NMC, MCC Conduct Meeting to Streamline Counselling Process Across India

Vacant medical seats have been a matter of concern for the authorities for the last few years. Sharing the data in this regard, the Union Minister of State for Health, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar had earlier informed that altogether 860 MBBS and 12758 PG Medical Seats remained vacant in the last three years.

This year is also no exception as more than 2000 MBBS seats remained vacant even after multiple rounds of counselling. In fact, the Union Health Ministry had to approach the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the last date for admissions to prevent the wastage of 'precious' medical seats.

The statistics are not so good for the PG medical seats as well. Earlier this year, the Union Health Ministry reduced the cut-off percentile for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination to 'Zero' across all categories.

Reportedly this decision was taken by the Ministry to ensure that the number of vacant PG medical seats get reduced. Reducing the cut-off to 'zero' the Ministry made all the PG medical aspirants eligible to participate in the counselling. Despite such efforts by the authorities, 2962 MD/MS/PG Diploma Seats remained vacant for the stray vacancy round of NEET PG.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that despite the Union Government's decision to do away with the cut-off percentile for admission to PG medical education courses, more than 1,400 seats could not find any takers. In order to fill up these seats, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) finally announced its decision to hold a special stray vacant round.

Also Read: NEET PG Special Stray Vacancy Round to Fill Up 1400 Vacant PG Medical Seats