The Karnataka Examinations Authority concluded the NEET PG counselling on March 7, 2026. Post-seat allocation data shows that 783 of 4,773 postgraduate
medical seats (16%) remained vacant in the state. This year, approximately 14,400 students signed up for the counselling, and around 10,000 exercised web options for medical PG seats through the KEA portal. Experts have reportedly cited the addition of 967 seats in a single year and stretched counselling cycles as major contributors to this. Majority of the seats that remain unfulfilled are under the management quota, with fees ranging from Rs 25,000 for an anatomy seat to Rs 1.3 crore for a dermatology seat in private colleges. The surprising part is that seats in 'popular' streams are lying empty. For instance, a total of 500 seats were available in general medicine, of which 37 are still vacant. In MD radiodiagnosis, 35 of the 287 seats are unoccupied. In general surgery, 11 of 425 seats remain untouched, while dermatology has 15 of 196 seats and paediatrics has 25 of 362 seats vacant. The issue is being discussed on the microblogging site X where both the doctors as well as aspirants are sharing their opinions. Seeing the inflated cost of dermatology, one user wrote, a Neurologist wrote, "1.3 crore for a MD Dermatology seat? No wonder there were no takers. Cost of medical education has to come down. This could have a cascading effect on reduction in cost of medical treatment too." "General Merit Private Quota seats with annual tuition fees of 62 lakhs and 1.3 crore rupees per year, which means only the super rich or whose parents have a flourishing clinic can afford it," another one wrote. Furthermore, pre- and para-clinical seats only had a few occupiers. The data indicates that of the total 119 seats available, only eight students grabbed the anatomy seats.
| Course | Intake | Vacant Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Anatomy | 119 | 111 |
| Physiology | 117 | 97 |
| Biochemistry | 113 | 92 |
| Pharmacology | 123 | 53 |
| Pathology | 265 | 39 |
| Microbiology | 130 | 99 |
| Community Medicine | 143 | 63 |
| Forensic Medicine | 77 | 47 |
| Dermatology | 196 | 15 |
| Paediatrics | 362 | 25 |
| General Medicine | 500 | 37 |
| Radio Diagnosis | 287 | 35 |
| Respiratory Medicine | 87 | 4 |
| Emergency Medicine | 74 | 1 |
| Orthopaedics | 358 | 28 |
| Anaesthesia | 443 | 3 |
| General Surgery | 425 | 11 |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology | 362 | 18 |
| Diploma in Clinical Pathology | 2 | 2 |
| Diploma in Public Health | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 4,186 | 783 |
Speaking on the issue, SNVL Narasimha Raju, chairman, The Oxford Educational Institutions, said "The mindset of students applying for MBBS and MD is different. In MBBS, at whichever stage seats are added, they get filled up. Not with PG. From what we observed, the seats added in the middle of counselling do not find many takers. PG students have charted out their career paths," to a media outlet.
"Counselling takes a very long time amid court cases and other delays. There is very little gap between one counselling and the next year's exam. So students decide to prepare better for next year's exam rather than pay for the high-fee category seat this year. Thus, the NRI/management seats are left vacant in many institutions," he added.
"This time, there was an increase in the number of seats. Most vacant seats are in the management quota. These fees are so high that they are out of reach for many students. It is sad that seats are going vacant even when there are hundreds of students repeating the exam, vying for those seats. One way to do it is to subsidise the management seats and make them more affordable for students," said Bhagavan BC, vice-chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, according to a media report.
"All the rounds of counselling are over, unless the National Medical Commission permits more," said Islavuddeen Gadyal, administrative officer, KEA.
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