NEW DELHI: The Centre has allocated four MBBS seats under the Central Pool for the 2026-27 academic year for eligible spouses and children of civilian victims of terrorism, with applications to be nominated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
“The Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR) Division of the MHA has asked chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories (UTs) to invite applications from eligible candidates and submit verified nominations by September 12, 2026, while noting that the deadline is final and no extension or reminder will be issued,” a senior official said.
In its communication to the states and UTs, the MHA has also directed them to give wide publicity to the scheme and ensure that applications are complete, duly verified and authenticated by the competent authority.
Attested applications and supporting documents are to be sent to the MHA by speed post or registered post. Scanned copies may also be submitted through the designated official email addresses.
The allocation follows an August 21, 2026, office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which earmarked four MBBS seats from the Central Pool for candidates in the civilian victims of terrorism category.
Of the four seats, one has been allocated to A N Magadh Medical College in Gaya, Bihar, and another to Grand Medical College in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The remaining two seats have been earmarked at Pt JNM Medical College in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Under the eligibility criteria laid down by the MHA, applicants must be the spouse or child of a deceased or disabled civilian victim of terrorism and must be Indian nationals.
Candidates must have completed 17 years of age at the time of admission to the first year of the MBBS course, or must attain the age of 17 on or before December 31 of the admission year.
Applicants must also meet the educational requirements prescribed under the National Medical Commission's Graduate Medical Education Regulations. They must have passed Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Biotechnology and English individually at the qualifying examination.
For candidates in the unreserved and General-Economically Weaker Sections (Gen-EWS) categories, at least 50 per cent aggregate marks in Physics, Chemistry and Biology or Biotechnology are required. The minimum is 40 per cent for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes categories.
For Persons with Disabilities (PwD), the minimum qualifying marks are 45 per cent for unreserved and Gen-EWS candidates and 40 per cent for SC, ST and OBC candidates.
Candidates must also qualify NEET (UG) 2026 in accordance with the applicable qualifying percentile. The required percentile is 50th for unreserved and Gen-EWS candidates, 40th for SC, ST and OBC candidates, and 45th and 40th percentile, respectively, for PwD candidates in the corresponding categories.
The MHA has prescribed a three-tier priority system for allotment. The highest priority, or Priority-I, will go to children whose both parents were killed by terrorists. Priority-II will cover children from families in which the sole breadwinner was killed in a terrorist attack. Priority-III will cover wards of victims who suffered permanent disability or serious injuries as a result of terrorist operations.
Seats will first be allotted to eligible Priority-I candidates according to their NEET (UG) 2026 rank. Any remaining seats will then be offered to Priority-II candidates, followed by Priority-III candidates, again strictly on the basis of NEET rank.
The benefit is restricted to one ward per civilian victim. If one child has already availed of the Central Pool benefit, another ward from the same family will not be eligible for consideration under the scheme.