File image of aspirants at a NEET exam centre. The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), in a letter to the Ministry, said that thousands of highly qualified aspirants across the country were suffering due to the unprecedented delay in the NEET-SS admission process.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Doctors have appealed for urgent intervention by the Union Health Ministry into the ongoing and indefinite delay in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Super Speciality (NEET-SS 2024-25) counselling, which had resulted in a socio-economic crisis for the aspirants.The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), in a letter to the Ministry, said that thousands of highly qualified aspirants across the country were suffering due to the unprecedented delay in the NEET-SS admission process.“As per the Medical Counselling Committee’s (MCC) own academic calendar, the session for super-specialty courses was slated to commence on April 10th, 2026. However, we are now at the end of May 2026, and the counselling process remains in a state of absolute paralysis,” the group said.Also Read | FAIMA seeks faster NEET-SS counselling process, cites distress among aspirantsCalling the current crisis a systemic failure, the group said the results for the NEET-SS examination had been announced in January 2026. “Despite the availability of the merit list for nearly five months, the MCC has failed to initiate the seat allotment process. This delay is attributed to frequent court postponements and administrative inertia, leading to several critical consequences,” the group said. It added that many aspirants had resigned from their previous posts as senior residents/assistant professors in anticipation of the April session.They had been unemployed for months, not by choice, but due to a failure in the administrative machinery.“These doctors, often the primary breadwinners for their families, are facing acute financial distress. The prolonged uncertainty is taking a massive toll on their mental well-being, leading to widespread burnout and frustration,” the letter noted.Also Read | Medical education in India is at a crossroads: it needs to pivot to quality over quantity The missing 2025-26 batch was also creating a vacuum in tertiary healthcare centres, increasing the workload on existing staff, severely compromising patient care, and causing a sense of deep-seated resentment within the medical fraternity.Highly qualified specialists were being treated as disposable, with no regard for their time, financial liabilities, or professional growth, the FAIMA said.“If MCC does not provide a definitive timeline for the commencement of counselling, the frustration among the medical fraternity will escalate into massive nationwide protests and legal escalations. We seek immediate reforms to ensure that the academic calendar is respected and that such an administrative breakdown never recurs,” the doctors said. Published - May 27, 2026 05:56 pm IST
