Boost for PG Aspirants: NMC Approves 247 Additional MD/MS Seats in Gujarat

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has delivered positive news for Postgraduate (PG) medical aspirants in Gujarat by approving an additional 247 MD/MS seats for the academic year 2025-26. This increase aims to expand the state's capacity for producing specialized doctors and ease the intense competition faced by NEET PG 2025 qualified candidates.

While the approval of 247 seats is a significant addition, it falls short of the state's initial request. The Gujarat State Government and the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) colleges had collectively sought permission for approximately 800 new PG medical seats.

Distribution of New Seats

The newly sanctioned seats have been distributed across 14 government and semi-government institutions in the state:

1. GMERS Colleges: 173 seats have been added across eight GMERS colleges, which include institutions located in Patan, Gandhinagar, Gotri, Himmatnagar, Junagadh, Sola-Ahmedabad, Vadnagar, and Valsad. These colleges had initially requested around 420 seats.
2. Government Medical Colleges: Fewer than 100 seats were approved for six major government medical colleges in cities such as Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar, despite a request for over 400 additional seats.

This addition of 247 seats will be a welcome factor during the ongoing NEET PG 2025 State Quota counselling, increasing the overall number of opportunities available for candidates aspiring to pursue MD and MS specializations.

State Appeals and NMC Directives

The discrepancy between the requested and approved seats has prompted the Gujarat Health Department to direct the deans of the concerned medical colleges to file formal appeals before the NMC. The colleges have already submitted these appeals, which require a fee of ₹50,000 per subject. The state aims to justify the necessity for the initially requested 800 seats, emphasizing the need for more specialized medical workforce development.

Meanwhile, the NMC has streamlined the process for including newly sanctioned seats in counselling. The Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) has explicitly stated that counselling authorities need not wait for the formal Letter of Permission (LOP) from institutions to include these approved seats in the counselling matrix. The list uploaded on the NMC website itself is considered a valid document for starting the allotment process. This ensures that the newly created opportunities are immediately accessible to candidates participating in the state counselling rounds.

This development follows the NMC's recent overall approval of 966 PG seats in private deemed universities across India, indicating a broader national effort to boost the postgraduate medical education infrastructure for the 2025-26 academic year. For regular updates on medical admission matrix changes, counselling schedules, and state-level notifications, follow Only Education News.