New Delhi: India is considering a major change to its postgraduate medical admission system, with the National Medical Commission (NMC) proposing to replace the existing percentile based qualifying system with a rank based approach for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) and NEET Super Speciality (NEET SS) examinations.
The proposal has received in principle approval from the NMC, but the new regulations have not yet been finalised. The changes are expected to be introduced for the 2027 counselling cycle, subject to the necessary approvals.
While the proposed reform aims to simplify admissions and reduce counselling delays, doctors have raised concerns about whether changing the merit system alone will solve the problems affecting postgraduate medical education. They have highlighted high college fees, compulsory service bonds, differences in resident stipends and limited interest in certain specialities as factors contributing to vacant seats.
The proposal forms part of a wider review of medical admissions following concerns about unfilled postgraduate seats and the decision to lower qualifying marks during the previous admission cycle.
Under the existing system, candidates must achieve a prescribed percentile to become eligible for postgraduate medical counselling. A percentile indicates how a candidate performed compared with other candidates in the examination. It does not represent the percentage of marks scored.
Candidates already receive examination ranks under the current system. However, the proposed reform would make ranks the basis for merit based admissions instead of relying on the existing percentile based qualifying thresholds. The NMC has proposed that examination results declare ranks rather than percentile scores.
The issue became particularly controversial during the 2025 admission cycle. On January 13, 2026, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences reduced the qualifying percentiles for NEET PG 2025 to allow more candidates to participate in counselling.
The revised qualifying percentile was lowered to the seventh percentile for general and economically weaker section candidates, the fifth percentile for general candidates with benchmark disabilities, and zero percentile for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, including those with benchmark disabilities.
The revised qualifying scores were 103 out of 800 for general and economically weaker section candidates, 90 for general candidates with benchmark disabilities and minus 40 for the specified reserved categories.
The decision made an additional 95,913 candidates eligible for counselling. However, eligibility did not automatically guarantee admission to a postgraduate medical seat.
The government said the reduction was intended to improve the use of available seats. In a written response to the Rajya Sabha on February 10, 2026, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported that 9,621 of the 29,476 seats offered in the first two rounds of counselling by the Medical Counselling Committee remained vacant after the second round.
The government also estimated that around 20,000 postgraduate medical seats, including Diplomate of National Board seats, remained vacant across the country after two rounds of counselling. This broader estimate covered a different group of seats from the Medical Counselling Committee figures.
The controversy reached the Supreme Court of India after a petition challenged the decision to reduce the qualifying criteria. The court examined concerns about admission standards and the recurring problem of vacant postgraduate medical seats.
On May 4, 2026, the Supreme Court directed the creation of an institutional mechanism to examine problems in postgraduate medical admissions. The Union Health Ministry subsequently constituted a committee of 12 experts on July 23, headed by Director General of Health Services Dr Loveneesh G Krishna.
The committee examined several issues affecting medical admissions and submitted its report to the Supreme Court on November 3.
Its recommendations included introducing a rank based admission system, improving digital counselling, reviewing fees for pre clinical and para clinical specialities, addressing differences in stipends and considering exemptions from compulsory service bonds for certain courses.
The committee also suggested incentives to encourage doctors to work in rural areas. Other proposals included biometric verification and improved seat verification procedures to prevent misuse of the counselling system.
NMC Secretary Dr Raghav Langer communicated the commission's in principle decision on the rank based proposal to the Directorate General of Health Services on October 1, 2026.
Doctors have raised questions about whether the proposed change will address the reasons behind vacant seats.
Dr Dhruv Chauhan, spokesperson for the Indian Medical Association's Junior Doctors' Network, has expressed concern about whether a rank based system would prevent candidates with extremely low or negative examination scores from becoming eligible for postgraduate medical courses.
United Doctors Front chairperson Dr Lakshya Mittal has also argued that changing the merit list alone will not resolve the problems affecting medical education. He has highlighted high fees, compulsory service bonds, inadequate stipends and working conditions as issues influencing candidates' decisions.
The Indian Medical Association has also called for safeguards to protect academic standards and patient safety while welcoming the proposed move towards a rank based system. Its president, Dr Anil Kumar J Nayak, has stressed the importance of maintaining minimum academic standards in postgraduate medical admissions.
The association has also identified high fees, inadequate infrastructure, shortages of teaching faculty, differences in resident stipends and unattractive working conditions in certain specialities as factors that need attention.
The cost of postgraduate medical education remains a concern, particularly in private medical colleges and deemed universities. The expert committee has suggested considering lower fees for pre clinical and para clinical courses to make these specialities more accessible.
However, fee regulation remains a complicated issue because state authorities have responsibilities in determining medical college fees. Earlier guidelines issued by the NMC on February 3, 2022, concerning fees for 50 per cent of seats in private medical institutions and deemed universities have also faced legal challenges.
Meanwhile, India is continuing its current postgraduate admission process. The NEET PG 2026 examination was conducted on August 30, with 265,980 candidates appearing out of 273,096 registered candidates.
In its latest update on November 5, the Medical Counselling Committee announced that the second round of NEET PG 2026 counselling would be rescheduled from November 7 onwards. The decision followed the receipt of a seat matrix for newly approved postgraduate medical seats from the NMC. Institutions were asked to verify their seats and apply the reservation roster by November 6.
The ongoing counselling process highlights the administrative challenges involved in managing thousands of postgraduate medical admissions across India.
The proposed rank based system is part of a wider effort to improve the admission process. However, its implementation will depend on the final regulations and whether the authorities also address the financial and professional difficulties associated with postgraduate medical training.
The Supreme Court has given the petitioners time to respond to the expert committee's report and adjourned the matter. The proposed changes have not yet been formally implemented. Questions concerning minimum admission standards, fee regulation, compulsory service bonds and stipend policies remain unresolved.