NEET counselling 2021 has got brand new changes: All you need to know
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) of India had announced on 18th December that it is soon going to conduct NEET UG (undergraduate) counselling for the session 2021-2022. This counselling will be for all candidates who have qualified the NEET theory exam in October 2021 and are pursuing programmes like MBBS, BDS and BSc Nursing. Candidates need to register for NEET counselling on the official website only if they have successfully cleared the theory round of this All-India medical entrance exam.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has also stated that a few brand-new changes will be implemented during this national level medical counselling. One instance is the shift to online mode. Before the final release of the NEET counselling dates, here is a bird’s eye view on the key changes that have been initiated.
NEET counselling will be conducted in four rounds
NEET UG programme constitutes both medical and dental seats, and this year, the MCC will carry out the counselling in four rounds namely: All India Quota (AIQ) round 1, All India Quota Round 2, All India mop-up round and All India Quota stray vacancy round. Till 2020, the NEET counselling had been conducted in two rounds only. From this year, the mop-up and stray vacancy rounds have been added. Earlier, these two rounds were only reserved for counselling of central and deemed medical universities.
Seats will not revert to states
All the four rounds of the NEET UG counselling will not only be conducted for the centrally-funded medical universities but also for the state-run medical colleges with the objective to give equal and fair chances to all candidates from across India. However, earlier, the leftover seats were always reverted to the states, but from this time onwards, the remaining seats after the completion of round 2 will be continued in mop-up and stray vacancy rounds instead of giving them back to respective states.
Fresh registration will not be allowed for stray vacancy round
Based on their eligibility, candidates can register afresh for the first three rounds, AIQ 1, AIQ 2 and AIQ mop-up. However, during the last stray vacancy round, no fresh registration will be allowed and candidates have to abide by their final score given by the MCC.
Counselling plans for central universities remain the same
All central medical universities will be allowed to carry on with their fixed counselling procedures including the registration fees, admission fees and security deposits. However, they need to conduct the counselling online in four rounds to be in sync with the NEET counselling.
Seat upgradation process has undergone changes
Earlier, candidates were allowed to upgrade their seats or apply for free exit after round 1. However, the MCC will not be allowing that from this time onwards. Instead, after the results of round 1 and seats are allotted, candidates can then apply to upgrade their seats during round 2. But, once seats are allotted after round 2, that will not change under any circumstances. Moreover, if a candidate joins his or seat as allotted after round 2, he or she will not be able to resign the seat either, nor will they able to participate in the next rounds. Keeping this mind, if the candidate does not join the seat allotted during round 2, he or she can proceed in the mop-up round or can even start afresh and forfeit the security deposit.