A petitioner had submitted a plea in the apex court informing the Court that the NEET MDS counselling was unconditionally delayed. The plea informed the court that the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) was held on December 16 last year, and around 30,000 doctors having a Bachelors degree in Dental Surgery had appeared in the examination to pursue a Master in Dental Surgery (MDS) course and since almost a year, the central government has been delaying the counselling process, informed the plea. After the matter reached the court, the separate division of bench, led by Justice DY Chandrachud and MR Shah, took cognizance of the issue and also observed that the delay in the counselling process was hampering the future of the students and it should be carried out as soon as possible.

The counselling process for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Masters of Dental Surgery (NEET-MDS) will begin on 20 August and continue till 10 October, as per the Union government. The Centre and the Medical Counselling Committee made this  declaration in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court. The Central Government also submitted the proposed schedule for the process. It had  earlier informed the top court that the counselling would be carried out virtually.

The Centre had recently announced a reservation of 27 percent for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and 10 percent for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates appearing for NEET from the academic year 2021-22. It, in its affidavit, stated that the counselling process would be carried out under existing reservation policies, adding that the delay in announcing the dates was caused due to a lack of clarity on the reservation of OBCs in the all-India quota, following a Madras High Court judgment.

NEET MDS COUNSELLING SCHEDULE:

The counselling process will start on August 20 for around 1300 MDS seats through the All India Quota (AIQ), considered by central and ESIC institutes. The registration and payment will be carried out online on the official website of MCC. The MDS counselling is scheduled to happen in two rounds, followed by a third open round. Those seats, which remain vacant after the open round, will be allotted to states.