PG medical fees vary by state, 50 percent private seat fee guidelines subjudice: MoS Health tells Parliament

New Delhi: While addressing concerns about the high cost of NEET PG 2025 admissions and whether most vacant seats are in private medical colleges where fees run into crores and are unaffordable for many students, the Union Health Ministry informed Parliament that the fee structure for medical courses in government and private colleges varies across States and is decided by the respective State Fee Regulatory Authorities.

Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel stated that the fees in government medical colleges are kept lower so that more students can afford them. She also said that the government issued guidelines to decide fees and other charges for 50% of seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019. These guidelines were released by the National Medical Commission on February 3, 2022. However, these rules have been challenged in different courts, and the matter is still pending.

"The fee structure for medical courses in Government and private medical colleges varies across States and is determined in accordance with the guidelines issued by the respective State Fee Regulatory Authorities. The fee structure in Government medical colleges is subsidized in order to enhance accessibility. Also, guidelines for the determination of fees and other charges in respect of 50% of seats in private medical institutions and deemed-tobe universities were framed under clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 10 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, and were issued by the National Medical Commission on 03.02.2022. However, these guidelines have been challenged before various courts and the matter is currently sub judice," mentioned the written reply of the Minister.

This information was shared by the Minister while responding to a series of queries raised by a parliament member who sought to know whether the government reduced the NEET-PG 2025 cut-off to zero due to a large number of vacant seats, how many seats remain vacant in government and private colleges, whether most vacancies are in high-fee private colleges, and the government’s response to criticism calling the decision corrupt.

In response, the Minister said that the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) conducts counselling for postgraduate medical courses as per the scheme laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. NEET PG counselling conducted by MCC covers 50% All India Quota seats and 100% seats of Central/Deemed Universities across the country. Counselling for State quota PG seats is conducted by the respective State Governments, and counselling for private medical colleges comes under the purview of State counselling authorities.

The decision to revise the qualifying percentiles follows the completion of Round-2 counselling by MCC, wherein it was reported that of the 29,476 seats offered by MCC for counselling, 9,621 seats remained vacant. Further, as counselling for 50% seats is conducted by respective state authorities, it was assessed that approximately 20,000 seats(including DNB seats) were vacant after two rounds, said Patel. 

According to the Minister, due to this, consistent with past academic years, which had proven effective in ensuring maximum seat utilisation, the Government reduced the qualifying percentile for eligibility to PG Counselling 2025 to ensure precious PG medical seats do not remain vacant.

The revised qualifying percentiles for NEET PG 2025 are as follows:

 UR Category: Eligibility reduced to above 7 percentiles

 UR–PwD Category: Eligibility reduced to above 5 percentiles

 SC / ST / OBC Categories: All candidates declared qualified

Also read- NEET PG 2025 qualifying percentile reduced to prevent vacant seats: MoS Health tells Parliament