With only a week until the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 exam date approaches, thousands of medical aspirants in Jammu & Kashmir are hoping for an increase in the number of MBBS seats in J&K Government Medical Colleges.
They believe that it will improve their chances of selection.
Sakina Itoo, J&K Minister of Health and Medical Education, stated that efforts had been made to meet the numerous standards specified by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
Itoo told Greater Kashmir that concerted efforts were underway to improve staff availability, libraries, laboratories, and classrooms in accordance with NMC regulations.
She stated that the Health and Medical Education Department, as well as the administrations of these medical institutions, had been urged to take aggressive measures to guarantee that the Letter of Permission is given by NMC.
“We are positive we will be able to get a nod for 50 additional seats in each of the nine government medical colleges of J&K,” she said.
The NEET-UG exam is scheduled for May 4 this year, with final selections set a few months later after rounds of counselling and other procedures.
There are 1,339 seats, including those at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jammu and Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS) Jammu, a private medical college. Of these, 15 per cent are pooled into the All India Quota, with 4 per cent allocated for candidates from the Ladakh Union Territory.
The remaining seats are divided into many groups. Many applicants have expressed dissatisfaction with the number of seats available in the unreserved pool, which excludes a large number of meritorious candidates.
