New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday proposed reducing the qualifying percentile for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Super Speciality (NEET-SS) seats from the existing 50 percent to 30 percent and agreed to return 40 vacant in-service seats to Tamil Nadu.
The decision came in a Supreme Court case concerning vacant NEET-SS 2025 seats earmarked for doctors serving in the Tamil Nadu government health service and their subsequent diversion to the All India counselling pool. The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association had challenged the move, arguing that the vacant seats should be returned to the state so they can be filled under its in-service quota.
The case later expanded to the larger issue of vacant Super Speciality seats across the country, as a significant number remained unfilled after the second round of counselling.
“Pursuant to completion of the second round of NEET-SS counselling, 1,857 Super Speciality seats are presently lying vacant, comprising 1,094 DM (Doctorate of Medicine)/MCh (Magister Chirurgiae) seats and 763 DrNB-SS (Doctorate of National Board-Super Speciality) seats,” the Centre said in a submission filed before the court.
Lowering the qualifying percentile would make around 6,000 additional candidates eligible to participate in the proposed special stray vacancy round, the Centre said.
The government said the move was intended “to ensure that the available Super Speciality seats do not remain vacant and that the available training capacity is optimally utilised”.
NEET-SS is the entrance examination for doctors seeking admission to advanced medical and surgical courses after postgraduate medical training.
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No upgradation for candidates who secured seats
The Centre has proposed that candidates who have already secured and joined seats in earlier counselling rounds will not be allowed to change or upgrade them in the national special round.
The round will instead be open to candidates who did not secure or join a seat earlier, including those who become eligible after the cutoff is lowered.
The Centre said candidates had already been given an opportunity to upgrade their seats between the first and second rounds. Allowing another upgrade could leave the seats they vacate unfilled, creating additional vacancies.
Tamil Nadu gets back 40 seats
Tamil Nadu will be an exception. The 40 vacant in-service seats being returned to the state will be filled through a separate one-week stray vacancy round, during which the Supreme Court has allowed candidates to upgrade their seats.
Seats remaining vacant after the state round will return to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) and be included in the national special stray vacancy round, which the Centre has proposed to complete within two weeks.
Notably, Tamil Nadu reserves 50 percent of Super Speciality seats in government medical colleges for doctors already serving in its health service. The dispute began after 151 seats earmarked for these doctors remained vacant and were made available to the All India counselling pool.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association challenged the move in August and sought the return of the seats to the state. By the latest hearing, 40 of the 151 seats remained vacant.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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