In a significant move for medical education, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has greenlit 171 additional postgraduate (PG) seats for the ongoing 2025-26 academic year. This decision promises to widen options for thousands of aspirants competing in the fiercely contested arena of medical PG admissions.
Seats Span Key Specialties Across Multiple States
The newly sanctioned seats cover a broad spectrum of crucial clinical and diagnostic disciplines. Aspirants will find increased opportunities in fields like General Medicine, General Surgery, Anaesthesiology, and Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Other major specialties benefiting include Paediatrics, Radiology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, Orthopaedics, Respiratory Medicine, and Pathology.
These seats have been allocated to medical colleges spread across numerous states. The list includes Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana. The allocations were made following an appeal process where colleges challenged earlier decisions by the NMC's Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB).
Immediate Inclusion in Counselling Process
In a notice issued on December 31, 2025, the NMC's MARB delivered crucial instructions to counselling authorities. The commission stated that the PG seats granted by the First Appeal Committee are immediately valid for the current counselling process.
Importantly, authorities have been directed not to wait for formal Letters of Permission (LoPs) from individual institutions before proceeding. The official list uploaded on the NMC website will itself serve as the valid document for inclusion. This step is designed to prevent the loss of eligible seats due to administrative delays, ensuring maximum utilisation.
Appeal Mechanism Leads to Seat Expansion
The creation of these additional seats is a direct outcome of the appeal mechanism under the NMC Act, 2019. Several medical colleges had appealed against earlier MARB decisions regarding seat approvals. These appeals were examined in detail by the NMC's First Appeal Committee during meetings held on December 22 and 23, 2025.
Following a thorough review, the committee sanctioned the extra 171 seats. Officials clarified that while formal LoPs for these newly approved seats will be issued shortly, the online list is sufficient for immediate action. State medical education departments and counselling authorities have been instructed to implement this decision without delay.
This proactive move by the NMC balances regulatory oversight with practical needs. It aims to maximise seat utilisation during the crucial admission period. For countless medical graduates, this expansion represents a vital opportunity to secure a coveted PG seat in their desired specialty, potentially altering their career trajectories in a highly competitive landscape.
