171 New PG Medical Seats Approved for 2025–26 to Speed Up Admissions

In a move aimed at easing pressure on postgraduate medical admissions and ensuring smoother counselling timelines, the National Medical Commission has approved 171 additional postgraduate (PG) medical seats for the 2025–26 academic year. The decision is expected to speed up admissions by allowing counselling authorities to proceed without waiting for procedural formalities that often delay seat allocation.

The approval follows deliberations by the NMC’s First Appeal Committee, which reviewed appeals filed by medical colleges against earlier decisions taken by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board under provisions of the NMC Act, 2019. These appeals were examined during meetings held on December 22 and 23, after which the committee cleared the addition of new PG seats across multiple institutions and specialties.

According to a public notice issued by the NMC, the sanctioned seats are now part of the official seat matrix for the upcoming counselling rounds. The commission has attached a detailed list of the newly approved seats, stating that it should be treated as an authoritative reference by all stakeholders, including counselling bodies, medical colleges, and aspirants.

The newly added PG seats span a wide range of clinical and non-clinical disciplines. These include high-demand specialties such as General Medicine, General Surgery, Anaesthesiology, Radiodiagnosis, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Psychiatry, Dermatology, and Emergency Medicine. Several pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects have also seen additions, helping broaden opportunities for postgraduate training.

Medical colleges across multiple states and Union Territories are set to benefit from the expansion. Institutions in regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Arunachal Pradesh are among those that have received approval for additional seats. The geographically diverse distribution is expected to support more balanced growth of postgraduate medical education across the country.

To avoid delays during the admission process, the NMC has issued specific instructions to counselling authorities. It has clarified that they do not need to wait for Letters of Permission (LOPs) from institutions before including the newly approved seats in counselling. The commission noted that LOPs will be issued in due course and that the published seat list itself should be treated as a valid document for counselling purposes.

In communication addressed to heads of medical colleges, NMC Secretary Dr Raghav Langer emphasised that the attached list of approved seats holds official validity and should be relied upon during admissions. This step is aimed at preventing bottlenecks during counselling rounds, where delays in paperwork often lead to uncertainty for students and institutions alike.

The updated seat information has also been shared with the Medical Counselling Committee and with state and Union Territory medical education departments. This ensures that the expanded seat matrix is promptly reflected in both central and state-level counselling processes.

For aspirants, the decision offers increased opportunities and greater clarity during a highly competitive admission cycle. Education experts say the move reflects a more flexible and student-centric approach by the regulator, balancing regulatory oversight with practical timelines.

By enabling faster inclusion of approved seats into counselling, the NMC aims to strengthen postgraduate medical education infrastructure while reducing stress and uncertainty for thousands of candidates seeking PG admissions in 2025–26.