NMC Mandates Exclusive Online Counselling for MBBS & PG Admissions to Prevent Seat Blocking

In preparation for the admission cycle of MBBS and post-graduate (PG) medical programs for the academic year 2023-24, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has instructed Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) to exclusively conduct counselling through online means. The NMC, the governing body overseeing medical education, communicated to the health university that physical counselling must be strictly avoided. This directive follows the PG seat-blocking scandal of 2022, which led to an investigation into fraudulent seat blocking by private medical colleges under the management quota. KNRUHS officials had taken legal action and reported the matter to the police.

This marks the first instance of entirely online counselling, eliminating the flexibility previously enjoyed by private colleges to fill vacant seats. The new regulation mandates online counselling for stray vacancy rounds, encompassing 100% of seats in undergraduate and PG courses in deemed universities. While online counselling can be conducted multiple times, any seats left vacant after initial rounds must remain unoccupied. The NMC’s communication stated, “All state counselling agencies are urged to prepare for conducting online counselling for all rounds, including stray vacancy rounds in private medical colleges from the academic year 2023-2024.” This initiative aims to combat the issue of seat blocking effectively.

Previously, in the last year, ‘B’ category seats (management quota seats in private colleges) and the final mop-up round were followed by the conversion of remaining seats to ‘C’ (NRI) category quota seats, carrying fees ranging from 11.55 lakh to 60 lakh per year. A representative from KNRUHS explained that by shifting the entire counselling process online, the potential for name duplication will be eradicated.