Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu top list of vacant NEET PG seats

Based on data from the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for the 2025–26 academic session, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have the highest number of vacant seats under the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) or NEET PG 2025-26 across the country.

According to data released recently by the Health Ministry, over 18,000 postgraduate medical seats remained unfilled in government and private medical colleges across India despite the completion of Round 2 counselling, prompting the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to revise the qualifying percentile. NBEMS said the qualifying percentile cut-off for the third round of NEET PG this year has been reduced to zero for reserved categories.

Meanwhile, all three States, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, have more than 2,000 vacant seats each under the private, management and NRI quotas. According to Central government data, the number of postgraduate medical seats increased from 40,858 in 2020 to approximately 80,291 seats, including 17,707 Diplomate of National Board (DNB) and diploma seats.

Subjects with the maximum number of vacant seats include microbiology, pathology, biochemistry, forensic medicine and pharmacology. Specialities such as general medicine, radio diagnosis, general surgery, dermatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics continue to be the most sought after.

The results of NEET PG 2025 were declared on August 19, 2025. NBEMS had conducted the NEET PG 2025 examination on August 3, last year, with more than 2.42 lakh candidates appearing for the test. The examination was held in a single shift on a computer-based platform across 301 cities and 1,052 test centres.

Explaining why a large number of seats remain vacant across the country, Rohan Krishnan, chief patron of the Federation of All India Medical Association Doctors’ Association, said that while lowering the NEET PG qualifying percentile undermines the credibility of the examination, the fee structure of private colleges, which starts at ₹20 lakh and goes up to ₹4 crore, is the primary deterrent.

“The prohibitive cost of education, reluctance to pick up non-clinical subjects, lack of good teaching staff, infrastructure, patient load and stipend are also issues that need to be immediately addressed if we want to ensure that NEET PG seats are taken up,” a senior doctor said.