NEW DELHI, September 18: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the qualifying cut-off for NEET-SS 2025 counselling will be reduced from the 50th percentile to the 30th percentile for a proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round, after 1,857 super-speciality medical seats remained vacant following the second round of counselling.
Cut-Off Reduced From 50th to 30th Percentile
The Union government informed the Supreme Court that it had reconsidered the qualifying threshold after consultations with concerned stakeholders.
For the proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round, candidates securing at least the 30th percentile in NEET-SS will now be eligible to participate, instead of the earlier 50th-percentile requirement.
The relaxation applies specifically to the additional vacancy round and does not change admissions that have already been completed.
1,857 Super-Speciality Seats Still Vacant
According to the Centre’s submission, 1,857 seats remained vacant after Round 2 of NEET-SS counselling.
These include:
- 1,094 DM/MCh seats
- 763 DNB-SS seats
Many of the vacancies are in highly specialised medical and surgical disciplines.
The government said the lower threshold is intended to prevent sanctioned training seats from remaining unused.
Around 6,000 More Candidates Could Become Eligible
Reducing the qualifying percentile is expected to bring approximately 6,000 additional candidates into the counselling pool.
That would create a pool of eligible candidates more than three times the number of currently vacant seats, increasing the possibility of filling more positions during the Special Stray Vacancy Round.
However, becoming eligible for counselling does not guarantee admission, as seat allotment will continue to depend on rank, available seats, choices and applicable counselling rules.
Special Stray Vacancy Round to Be Conducted
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) is expected to conduct a Special Stray Vacancy Round to allot seats left unfilled after the regular counselling process.
The Centre told the Supreme Court that the round should be completed within about two weeks for seats available in the all-India counselling pool.
Candidates who have already joined or are holding a seat will not be allowed to use the special round for an upgrade, according to the government’s submission.
40 Tamil Nadu Seats to Return to State
The Centre also addressed vacant in-service super-speciality seats in Tamil Nadu.
It said 40 vacant in-service seats would be returned to the Tamil Nadu government for a limited period of one week, allowing the state to conduct its own Stray Vacancy Round.
Any seats still remaining vacant after that process would subsequently be added to the pool available for MCC counselling.
Supreme Court Had Asked Centre to Reconsider
The change follows intervention by the Supreme Court, which had earlier asked the Centre to reconsider its decision not to lower the qualifying percentile despite a large number of vacant super-speciality seats.
The government had initially proposed holding a special vacancy round while retaining the 50th-percentile threshold, but revised its position after the court raised concerns about seats going unused.
The Centre said the objective of the revised threshold is to ensure that available super-speciality training capacity is used more effectively.
Candidates Should Watch MCC Notifications
Candidates who did not qualify under the earlier 50th-percentile requirement should now monitor the official MCC counselling portal for the Special Stray Vacancy Round schedule, registration rules, choice filling and updated seat matrix.
The MCC portal currently carries the results and notices relating to NEET-SS 2025 Round 2, while the detailed special-round schedule is expected separately.
source – Supreme Court Proceedings / Medical Counselling Committee / PTI / Times of India
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