
Vacant Medical Seats to be Filled Through Extended Admission Process
New Delhi – The Supreme Court has directed the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to conduct a special round of counselling for vacant medical seats in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate courses. Acknowledging the acute shortage of doctors in India, the court emphasized that no medical seat should go unutilized.
Key Directives Issued by the Supreme Court
- Special Counselling Round
- The MCC must organize a fresh stray/special counselling round to fill remaining vacant seats.
- The admission process must be concluded by December 30, 2024, without exception.
- Conversion of NRI Quota Seats
- Unfilled NRI category seats will be converted to general category seats and allocated through State Admission Authorities.
- Admission Oversight
- Direct admissions by colleges are strictly prohibited.
- All admissions must occur through the designated State Admission Authorities to ensure transparency.
- Protecting Finalized Admissions
- The special admission round will only consider waitlisted candidates.
- Admissions already finalized in previous rounds will remain unaffected.
Supreme Court’s Rationale
A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan noted that leaving medical seats vacant amidst a nationwide shortage of doctors would be wasteful. The court highlighted the urgency of utilizing “precious medical seats” to meet the growing healthcare demands in the country.
The order was issued in response to a plea urging authorities to conduct additional counselling rounds after five rounds had failed to fill all seats.
This decision underlines the judiciary’s proactive approach in addressing India’s critical healthcare workforce challenges by ensuring that every available resource in medical education is efficiently utilized.