Amid PG med admission chaos, aspirants at a loss

Amid PG med admission chaos, aspirants at a loss

Yogita.Rao@timesofindia.com  14.02.2025

Mumbai : The woes of postgraduate medical aspirants continue this admission season. While they appeared for NEET-PG last Aug, many are still waiting to secure seats. The counselling process eventually commenced in Nov, but many are still frustrated with the delays and confusion. Even as the Directorate General of Health Services’ (DGHS) medical counselling committee (MCC) set a deadline of Feb 15 to close the admissions across the country in the third round, the state is yet to start the third round, creating confusion for aspirants. A fresh set of eligibility guidelines released by the MCC for the stray vacancy round on Wednesday, which contradicts the state’s pro cess, has stumped a few. Since the state is yet to declare the allotment list in the third round, candidates who may have a chance in the state are unable to secure seats in other states, said parent representative Sudha Shenoy. 

“If astudent secures a seat in the third round somewhere else, and his/her name appears in the Maharashtra state list in the third round, they will lose aseat in their home state. If they let go of the other seat and they do not even get a seat in Maharashtra counselling, they will be out of the process. Due to the delay in Maharashtra, they are unable to take a definitive call,” she said. In the circular released by MCC, the authority specified that the candidates who did not join their allotted seats through the central process in round three are ‘not eligible’ to participate in the upcoming stray vacancy round, but it said that the ‘not reported’ candidates are eligible for state counselling. Parent Brijesh Sutaria, though, said that the state considers only the allotment list for making students ineligible. A CET cell official said the same circular mentions the candidates can contact the state counselling authorities for information on state quota seats and therefore the state guidelines will be followed. The official also said the state’s third list allotment will be released in a day or two  and they are awaiting an updated merit list from the National Board of Examinations. The state has written to MCC explaining the situation and to seek a deadline extension.