NEET UG-PG Seat Mismatch: NMC Chief Raises Concern

The National Medical Commission (NMC) Chairperson, Dr. B.N. Gangadhar, warns of ongoing issues of mismatch between NEET UG and NEET PG seats in Indian medical education. Addressing this at a policy dialogue organised by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), he called the challenge “recurring,” pointing out how it affects both education quality and student well-being.

NMC Chief Statemen: Key Highlights

1. Mismatch in Seat Numbers: India currently has over 1,18,000 MBBS seats but lacks sufficient PG seats to match the inflow of medical graduates. This imbalance leads to significant backlog and stress among residents.
2. Overburdened System, Limited Faculty: According to Dr. Gangadhar, PG training programs continue with old faculty counts even as patient loads increase, resulting in overworked residents and compromised patient care.
3. Faculty Shortages Hamper Expansion: Many government medical colleges, despite having thousands of beds, have not been able to expand PG seats due to faculty shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks.
4. Strategic Utilisation of Resources Proposed: Dr. Gangadhar advocated for better use of existing beds and clinical services to improve PG training capacity. According to him, such optimisation would help alleviate workloads and offer faculty relief.
5. Quality Over Quantity: Dr. Gangadhar underscored that medical education must focus on educational outcomes, not just seat count. He suggested tools like a national exit exam and investing in faculty quality and modern infrastructure.

NEET UG and NEET PG Seats: Trends and Data

• This year alone, 95 institutes (60 private, 30 government) have applied to NMC to expand MBBS/PG seats, with around 120 private and 40 government colleges seeking to increase UG seats.
• Despite hospitals with up to 7,000 beds, many government colleges remain capped at 250 MBBS seats, signalling a mismatch in infrastructure use.
• India sees around 2.5 million applications vying for 1,18,000 MBBS seats, yet PG seat expansion lags far behind.

1. Increase in Seat Numbers

• MBBS (UG) seats:
  • From ~51,348 in 2014 to ~118,190 in 2025 (↑130%)
• PG medical seats:
  • From ~31,185 in 2014 to ~74,306 in 2025 (↑138%)

2. Vacant Seats

• UG seats:
  • 2020‑21: 273 vacant (0.3%)
  • 2021‑22: 326
  • 2022‑23: 261
• PG seats:
  • 2020‑21: 4,614 vacant (8.3%)
  • 2021‑22: 3,744 (6.2%)
  • 2022‑23: 4,400 (6.8%)
• Note: 485 UG + 247 PG seats left vacant (despite zero-percentile-based eligibility)

3. Demand vs Supply Gap

• Applicant-seats ratio:
  • NEET‑UG: ~20 lakh applicants vs ~1.08 lakh seats (~1 in 5 success)
  • NEET‑PG: ~2.28 lakh candidates vs ~74k seats
• Growth in aspirants:
  • MBBS applicants surged 166% (2014–2021), but seats rose only 58%
  • Result: rise in MBBS seekers studying abroad and FMGE exams (~479% increase in FMGE takers since 2009)

4. Government Response

• Goal: Achieve 1:1 UG:PG seat ratio, with PG seats rising from ~17,000 to 25,000 by 2030
• Plan: Use DNB and diploma seats, especially in underserved specialities

5. Unequal Filling Across Specialities

• High vacancies remain especially in:
  • Non-clinical PG branches: anatomy (33 vacancies), pharmacology (144), microbiology (181), biochemistry (81)
  • Even clinical majors like general medicine (1,743), surgery (723) faced significant unfilled seats

Category	2014 Seats	2025 Seats	% Growth
MBBS (UG)	~51,348	~118,190	130%
PG Medical	~31,185	~74,306	138%

• UG seat vacancies range: ~0.2–0.4%
• PG vacancies hover around 6–8%

Implications of the UG and PG Seats Mismatch

• Mental Health Risks: The scarcity of PG seats is contributing to early trainee burnout and heightened stress.
• Quality vs. Scale Dilemma: The fast-tracked expansion of medical institutions must be balanced with systematic faculty recruitment and infrastructure adaptation.
• Regulatory Calls: The government’s recent loosening of approval norms has encouraged growth, but also raised concerns about regional imbalances and compromised educational quality.

Key Recommendation

• Public–Private Cooperation: Dr. Gangadhar emphasised coordinated action to ensure balanced scale and standards in medical education.
• Optimising Existing Infrastructure: He urged colleges to fully utilise existing hospital beds for PG training.
• Policy-Level Tools: He suggested mechanisms like exit exams to monitor training quality and strengthen faculty commitments.
• Cautious Expansion: He cautioned against indiscriminate expansion, urging that seat additions be demand-driven and quality-focused.

The key address by Dr. Gangadhar underscores a larger systemic imbalance: India’s medical education system is producing many doctors but is failing to equip them adequately with postgraduate training seats. Bridging this UG-PG gap requires thoughtful policymaking, integrated growth strategies, faculty-focused reforms, and stringent quality access. The challenge, he warns, is not just expansion, but scaling responsibly without compromising standards.

Read Also: NEET UG 2025 Alert: Govt Announces Addition of 10,000 New MBBS Seats