The Centre may consider reducing the qualifying percentile for admission in the academic year 2026–27 as over 4,000 medical seats are lying vacant in the country, which could affect the country’s healthcare system, said Tamil Nadu Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson on Monday.
Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his immediate intervention in reducing the qualifying percentile this year too, the MP flagged that on earlier occasions the Centre had announced such relief keeping in mind vacant medical seats.
Taking to X, the MP in his letter said that the exceptionally high qualifying cut-off this year, following the leakage of the answer sheet and consequential cancellation and re-conduct of NEET-UG 2026, has raised serious concerns.
“The Union Government must act within the applicable rules to ensure these seats are not left unutilised,” he said in his letter, and urged for a special stray vacancy round to fill the vacant seats.
He flagged that the union government has reduced the qualifying percentile on earlier occasions to prevent seats from lapsing, including for NEET-PG 2023, NEET-Super Speciality 2026 and NEET-MDS 2026, by 10 percentile points across all categories.
The MP highlighted that the fourth (stray vacancy) round of counselling conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee commenced, 4,068 seats were lying vacant, of which 3,426 were MBBS seats, the remainder being 499 BDS and 143 B.Sc. Nursing seats.
By contrast, last year, at the end of four rounds of counselling for 2025-26, only 72 All India Quota MBBS seats remained unfilled.
He said the unusually large number of medical seats remaining vacant in the NEET-UG 2026 counselling for the academic year 2026-27 was due to an exceptionally high qualifying cut-off.
He sought the PM’s urgent intervention “in a matter of serious concern to thousands of medical aspirants and to the country's healthcare capacity."
"The scale of vacancy this year is therefore without precedent,” he added.
The NEET-UG examination, which was held on May 3 was cancelled following the paper leak and re-conducted on June 21.
Wilson said absenteeism rose from 66,751 candidates (2.93%) in 2025 to 2,79,848 candidates (12.28%) in 2026.
As the qualifying marks are fixed as a percentile of the candidates who appear, the change in the cohort pushed the qualifying marks to the highest level ever recorded.
The qualifying mark of 177 now required of OBC/SC/ST candidates is higher than the General category qualifying mark in every NEET-UG from 2016 to 2025.
“Candidates who would have qualified in any previous year with the very same marks are excluded this year solely because of the circumstances in which the 2026 examination was held, and not because of any change in the standard required to pursue medical education,” he added.
He said even though the number of MBBS seats has increased to 1,40,664, the number of candidates who qualified NEET-UG fell from 12,36,531 in 2025 to 11,21,185 in 2026.
“Seats that remain unfilled at the end of counselling cannot be carried forward and lapse for the entire academic year, together with the faculty, hospitals and public and private investment that stand behind them,” he said.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition filed by students seeking the relief, but he said, the decision to relax the qualifying percentile rests squarely with the Union Government, and the vacancy position calls for its exercise now.
“Seats would continue to be allotted strictly in order of NEET rank; no candidate already admitted would be displaced, and the relaxation would operate only to fill seats that would otherwise lapse,” he said.
"The NEET-UG 2026 Information Bulletin itself empowers the union government, in consultation with the National Medical Commission, to lower the minimum qualifying marks for a particular academic year where sufficient candidates do not qualify,” he said.
Keeping this in mind, he said, the minimum qualifying percentile for NEET-UG 2026 be reduced, for the academic year 2026-27 only, across all categories to the extent necessary to fill the vacant seats, strictly in accordance with merit and applicable standards, as may be considered appropriate to ensure that no seat goes vacant; and
He said a special stray vacancy round to be conducted for all 4,068 vacant seats, with the revised list of qualified candidates published immediately and the counselling schedule extended as necessary.
“Time is of the essence, as the admission process for 2026-27 is drawing to a close. Every MBBS seat that lapses is a lost opportunity for a deserving student and for strengthening India's medical workforce. I request your urgent intervention in the matter,” he said.
He also highlighted that India is already falling behind the World Health Organization's benchmark of one doctor for every 1,000 people, particularly when the availability of allopathic doctors alone is considered, and the shortfall is most acute in rural and underserved areas.
“At such a time, allowing thousands of MBBS seats to go waste would be a loss the country can ill afford,” Wilson said.
