NEET SS Counselling Stalled for 5 Months: FAIMA Urges Supreme Court for Early Hearing

NEET SS: The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has urgently appealed to the Union Health Ministry, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and Supreme Court of India to fast-track the ongoing legal proceedings and immediately resume the stalled counselling process of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Super Speciality (NEET SS). The second phase of counselling has been on hold for five months after various in-service seats at Tamil Nadu hospitals were put to a halt following a legal battle involving the government and the association of doctors, leaving thousands of qualified specialist doctors in the country in a professional limbo. 

Many have given up senior residency posts to start higher specialization training which has resulted in extreme mental anguish, financial strain and joblessness for many. Besides, the extended cold is posing a risk to the health care infrastructure in India as it is exacerbating acute manpower crunch in critical health departments, warned the Federation of Associations of Indian Medical Science (FAIMA). The doctors' association has asked the Supreme Court to give it an early hearing, at the top priority, and also asked the health authorities to allow provisional seat allotments to enable doctors to attend training programmes without losing a whole academic year.

5 months of delay. Thousands of NEET-SS qualified specialist doctors remain without jobs, while patients continue to face a shortage of super-specialists.

The matter is listed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 28 July, but at Item No. 56, making it uncertain whether the case… pic.twitter.com/Dhpi9e7dzA

— FAIMA Doctors Association (@FAIMA_INDIA_) July 25, 2026

NEET SS Counselling: Key Highlights of the Crisis

• 5-Month Stagnation: NEET SS Round 1 counselling was done, while Round 2 choice filling has been postponed repeatedly and is still not available till further orders.

• In the background of the ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court over over 151 unfilled super-speciality (DM/M.Ch.) seats on the Tamil Nadu state counselling and the in-service quota distribution, the delay has been caused.

• Impact on Healthcare: With the admission ban, certain departments of super-speciality hospitals in India have faced extreme shortage of manpower leading to excessive workload and pressure on the existing resident doctors.

• Specialists who were unable to secure a position in their own specialties were employed elsewhere and then moved to the training center to begin the DM/M.Ch. program, but for months they had no pay or advancement.

Impact on Doctors and Healthcare Infrastructure

The ongoing postponement of NEET SS Round 2 counselling has had a cascading effect on the Indian medical system: