NEET PG 2025 Counselling: 1,140 Seats Remain Vacant After Stray Round and Centre Declines Exam Cancellation

A total of 1140 seats have been left vacant after the stray vacancy round of NEET PG 2025 counseling, as reported by Union Government in Rajya Sabha. A considerable number of postgraduate medical seats have been left vacant even after the seat allocation process. In the face of opposition from states against the introduction of the national-level entrance exam, the Centre has clarified its position by stating that currently, there is no intention of cancelling NEET for admission to medical programs. The above statement is an update on the difficulties being experienced in filling medical seats.

NEET PG Counselling 2025 Seat Vacancy Update

The Union Government of India informed the Rajya Sabha that there are still 1,140 PG medical seats vacant after the conclusion of NEET PG 2025 stray vacancy counseling round. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, said that these vacant positions persist despite the reduction in NEET PG 2026 qualifying percentile to a “negative” percentile. According to data provided on March 17, 2026, these vacant positions are in government and private medical colleges across the country. In an attempt to provide more opportunities for medical aspirants, authorities have sanctioned 8,416 new postgraduate medical seats, increasing the total number of seats to 58,331. However, over a thousand vacant positions remain. Experts attribute this to a lack of interest in non-clinical subjects such as Physiology and Anatomy and the high fees in private medical colleges.

Centre Confirms NEET Will Continue

While responding to various issues concerning the future of entrance examination, Union Government said that it has no proposal to stop NEET for medical education. This is in response to various resolutions passed by various state governments including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, calling for the scrapping of NEET and going back to state level entrance exam. The Central Government has again said that it is mandatory for students to appear for NEET as per Section 14 of National Medical Commission Act, as it provides a standardized and transparent admission process for medical courses in India.