Listen to this article:

Over the past decade, despite prolonged litigation, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), the world’s largest single-stage pre-medical entrance examination, has replaced several state-wide pre-medical entrance examinations and different state-level syllabuses. It is mandatory to clear this examination to secure MBBS admissions in India.

The primary aim of implementing NEET-UG was to create a more equitable and merit-based admission system by providing a single national entrance examination and reducing the burden of multiple state-level pre-medical entrance tests. However, its implementation has been highly contested by several states.

Critics argue that recurrent administrative failures, allegations of irregularities, and concerns over fairness have undermined confidence in the examination and exacerbated tensions between the centralised admissions system and state-level educational structures. Given that each state has its own education system, with varying curricula, languages and implementation practices, the rationale for centralising medical admissions has become a subject of considerable debate.

While NEET-UG was introduced to establish a uniform national standard and a merit-based selection process, critics question whether centralising admissions necessarily serves India’s national interest. Instead of ensuring equal opportunities, the growing reliance on a single high-stakes examination has seemingly transformed medical education into an intensely competitive process. It has shifted the focus of secondary education away from regular classroom learning towards intensive coaching-centre-led preparation.

The number of students taking the NEET-UG entrance examination has surged from 7 lakhs in 2013 to 22 lakhs in 2026 and 50% of candidates meet the qualifying threshold every year. This does not mean all qualified candidates get medical admissions.

Unavailability of medical seats

Even though the number of medical seats has increased from 51,000 in 2013 to 1,36,939 in 2026, about 54% of the medical seats (73,643 seats in total) are in private medical institutions. These seats are virtually impossible for middle-class and lower-middle-class students to access even if they secure a high rank in the examination.

From 2013 to the present, there has been a consistent expansion of undergraduate medical seats, but more than half of the new seats were added in the private sector. In other words, 90% of the qualified candidates do not have a chance to secure medical admission due to the lack of capacity in government institutions. Exorbitant tuition fees at private institutions push thousands of Indian students to pursue medical education abroad as an alternative route to becoming doctors, despite the significant financial, regulatory and administrative costs  involved.

This places additional pressure on the limited number of publicly funded medical seats and has contributed to the........

© The Wire