NEET Counselling 2021: Know the MCC Process and Major Changes

Huge updates for the NEET AIQ Counselling!

The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has officially come up with an update for the NEET Exam Counselling 2021 for the All India Quota seats. This will be applicable for the UG and PG seats. The update states that this year, there will be 4 rounds of counselling for the All India Quota (AIQ) seats instead of the erstwhile 2-round process. 

This means that after 2 rounds of counselling, the remaining seats won’t be allotted to the “State quota” students but only be filled by AIQ.

Important Details of the NEET AIQ Counselling Process 2021

It becomes important that students get a decent idea about the new process that’ll now be followed by the MCC in counselling of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. The names of the 4 rounds that’ll be conducted online, will be the: -

1. AIQ Round 1
2. AIQ Round 2
3. AIQ Mop-Up Round 
4. AIQ Stay Vacancy Round 

These rounds will be carried out only to fill up the seats reserved under the All India Quota (AIQ) that make up 15% of the UG and 50% of the PG seats. After the completion of the 2nd Round, rest of the seats shall be filled by the “mop-up” and “stray vacancy” rounds. Other important facts to remember include: -

• Candidates can only register fresh for the first 3 rounds. No fresh candidates for Stray vacancy.
• Candidates looking for "upgradation" and "free exit" can do so only in Round 1. 
• No "free exit" or "upgradation" (to the mop-up round) is available for candidates registered in Round 2.
• Candidates who have joined a seat in Round 2 can not resigned/exit. Also, they are not eligible to take part in further counseling rounds.
• Those not joining the allotted  seat in Round 2 are eligible for further rounds. However, they need to forfeit their security deposit as well as register fresh for the "mop-up" round.
• For this, they need to pay a security deposit for the mop-up round.

What Led to This?

This decision by the MCC can be attributed to an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court, as part of a case filed there. This was filed by a candidate Nihila PP after 2 students from Kerala were unable to get seats despite scoring high in the NEET Exam 2021.

This was because earlier, there were just 2 rounds that were conducted. The vacant seats were transferred to the states as a result, students of the state quota with lesser marks got them.

Considering the genuinity of the case, Justices Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai, and BV Nagarathna of the Kerala high Court came out with the decision of conducting the mop-up and stray vacancy rounds after Round 2. This way, the seats will deservingly be filled by the AIQ students only.

On paper, this looks to be a good decision that shall make the NEET Counselling process more fair, especially for the AIQ students. We’re yet to see the reactions to this decision by the states and state quota students. 
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