Key facts
- Longstanding vacancies within the National Medical Commission (NMC) are causing delays in medical admissions and regulatory processes.
- A Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae highlighted these issues in a report.
- Admission processes for postgraduate and undergraduate courses are extending well beyond stipulated deadlines.
- The lack of key officials and unfilled statutory positions are slowing down approvals, appeals, and counselling.
- The report also raised concerns about transparency, noting that inspection reports are not routinely made public.
- Several statutory posts within the NMC and its autonomous boards remain unfilled six years after the NMC Act came into force.
Longstanding vacancies within the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the government's failure to fill mandated statutory positions are causing significant delays in medical admissions and regulatory processes, according to a report submitted to the Supreme Court by a court-appointed amicus curiae.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh's report highlighted that despite reform measures, delays in inspections, approvals, appeals, and counselling persist, leading to admission processes extending beyond prescribed deadlines. For instance, postgraduate admissions for the 2025-26 academic year reportedly continued until February 2026, and undergraduate admissions until December 2025. Permissions for MBBS courses were granted as late as November 2025, even though the academic session began on September 1, 2025.