As the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) kicks off its counselling sessions for MBBS, BDS, and other medical course admissions, Chhattisgarh’s Directorate of Medical Education (DME) is yet to release its NEET-UG qualifier merit list. This delay comes despite the MCC’s announcement of All India Quota (AIQ) counselling from July 21 and State Quota counselling from July 30. While states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh have already published their NEET-UG merit lists, and others are in the process of doing so this week, Chhattisgarh lags. Officials from the Chhattisgarh Medical Counsel attributed the delay to the ongoing preparation of the merit list, with a schedule to be announced upon completion.

 

The MCC, part of the National Medical Commission, previously released a detailed schedule for the first round of counselling. Counselling for 15% of MBBS and BDS seats in state-run and private medical colleges, as well as 100% of seats in centrally run institutions (like AIIMS branches, JIPMER, BHU, AMU, ESIC medical institutes), will be held from July 21 to July 28. Counselling for 85% of allotted seats in state-run and private medical colleges is scheduled from July 30 to August 6. MBBS aspirants must join their allotted colleges by August 12. Second Round is scheduled between August 19 to August 29, with a joining deadline of September 4.

 

Third round September 9 to September 18, with an enrollment deadline of September 23 and stray vacancy round from September 25 to September 29, with a joining deadline of October 3. The academic session for MBBS first year across all medical colleges is slated to commence from September 1. DME officials in Chhattisgarh reported that over 9300 students qualified for NEET-UG 2025 in the state. However, only about 60 percent of these qualifiers have registered their names, a significant factor contributing to the delay in releasing the merit list. In response to the growing concerns, Dr. US Paikra, Director of DME, has reportedly instructed officials to expedite the merit list preparation and release it this week.