Vacant PG seats while doctors are short: the fee question the AIIMS director raised

India has 68,305 PG broad-speciality seats for 2026-27, the most it has ever had. Yet vacant PG seats are back in the news. As reported by Jagran Josh on 14 Nov, citing media reports, AIIMS Delhi's director Dr Nikhil Tandon has said private medical college fees should be set through a transparent mechanism based on what medical education actually costs.

He was speaking in the context of about 2,000 PG medical seats reported to be unfilled, for reasons that include high fees and student preferences. That 2,000 figure is a reported number. We have not seen an official vacancy count for 2026, and counselling is still under way.

What the AIIMS director said

According to the Jagran Josh report, Dr Tandon, who has held charge as AIIMS Delhi director since April 2026, made four points:

• Private college fees should come from a transparent costing of medical education: infrastructure, laboratories, equipment, faculty, upkeep and upgrades.
• Colleges should still be allowed a reasonable profit margin.
• Language is a barrier when doctors move to another region to train, for example from north to south, because they must take histories and explain treatment.
• Newer AIIMS cannot be compared with AIIMS Delhi, and they face competition from private hospitals.

We are paraphrasing a news report, not quoting him. None of this is a government order or a new rule.

Half the seats sit behind a fee

NMC's seat matrix of 6 Nov 2026 splits the 68,305 seats like this:

Source: NMC seat matrix, 6 Nov 2026; shares calculated by Career Paathshala.

So almost one seat in two is in a private or deemed institution. Adding seats does not help a student who cannot pay for the half that is on offer to them.

The two-tier market, in one branch

Anaesthesiology is a useful example, because it is a clinical branch with seats in every category. The figures below come from our database.

Source: Career Paathshala database, Nov 2026. Indicative. Government fees, hostel, deposits and living costs are not included. Round 1 data only; later rounds will move these ranks.

The last deemed Anaesthesia seat went about 1,35,000 ranks below the last Open government seat. Inside that wide band, rank is no longer the main filter. The fee is.

The money maths, step by step

Typical deemed clinical fees in our database run from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh a year.

• At Rs 30 lakh a year: 30 x 3 = Rs 90 lakh in tuition.
• At Rs 50 lakh a year: 50 x 3 = Rs 1.5 crore in tuition.

Now the other side. A government resident is paid a stipend.

• At Rs 42,000 a month: 42,000 x 36 = Rs 15.12 lakh over three years.
• At Rs 1.27 lakh a month: 1,27,000 x 36 = Rs 45.72 lakh over three years.

Put the two together. Between paying Rs 90 lakh and earning Rs 15.12 lakh, the difference is about Rs 1.05 crore. Between paying Rs 1.5 crore and earning Rs 45.72 lakh, it is about Rs 1.96 crore. This comparison leaves out any stipend a deemed college pays, so the real gap for a given college may be smaller.

Spread evenly, Rs 90 lakh is Rs 2.5 lakh a month for 36 months. Rs 1.5 crore is about Rs 4.2 lakh a month. A family either has that money or borrows it. Our loan guide shows that a Rs 1 crore loan at 9% costs about Rs 1.01 lakh a month over 15 years, and that unpaid interest during the course can add about Rs 18 lakh. In several branches, that EMI takes 50-70% of a starting metro salary. The full working is in our EMI maths guide.

All figures here are indicative. Check each college's fee on the MCC or state fee list before you decide.

Government

34,473

Private

24,732

Deemed

9,100

Values in seats

Source: NMC seat matrix, 6 Nov 2026. Total 68,305 seats.

Is it only fees?

No. The report itself names other reasons, and so does the wider record.

Branch preference. Many unfilled seats are in pre- and para-clinical branches such as Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry. In 2026 Round 1, the last Open government All India Quota seat in Anatomy went at AIR 1,27,533. Those seats cost little and pay a stipend, yet students pass them over. Fees do not explain that.

Language and location. Dr Tandon's point about language is practical. A resident who cannot speak the local language struggles on day one.

Bonds. A service bond with a large penalty can put students off a seat they are unsure about. The expert panel advising the Supreme Court has said fee fixation committees may consider exempting pre- and para-clinical candidates from bond service, and slightly lower fees for non-clinical branches, as Medical Dialogues reported on 12 Nov. Bonds are a state subject and no state has adopted this yet. We cover it in our non-clinical bond explainer.

The same panel advised against diluting the NEET PG qualifying cut-off just to fill seats. So the option used in the past, lowering the bar until seats fill, now faces resistance. Details are in our cut-off explainer.

What a transparent costing would and would not change

Who sets fees today. In a Parliament reply in March 2026, reported by Medical Dialogues, the government said private college fees are set by state fee regulatory authorities. It also said NMC's guidelines on fees for 50% of seats in private and deemed institutions were sub judice at that time. We have not seen an update since, so treat this as the position as of March 2026.

What it could change. A published costing would let families see what a fee is made of. It would also make large differences between similar colleges easier to question.

What it would not change. It would not make private education cheap. Training a specialist costs real money, and the proposal itself allows a profit margin. It would not fill non-clinical seats that students avoid for career reasons. It would not solve the language problem.

Nobody has announced such a mechanism. A senior doctor's suggestion is not a policy, and we are not predicting one. For this counselling year, the fees on the official lists are the fees you will pay.

Seat type	Fee or stipend	Three-year money, roughly	Last rank, 2026 Round 1
Government	Stipend about Rs 42,000 to Rs 1.27 lakh a month, by state	Earn Rs 15.1 lakh to Rs 45.7 lakh	AIR 24,614 (last Open government seat)
DNB	Fee about Rs 1.25 lakh a year; stipend Rs 43,000-47,000 a month	Earn Rs 11.7 lakh to Rs 13.2 lakh after fees	Varies by hospital
Deemed, at Rs 30 lakh a year	Fee about Rs 30 lakh a year	Pay about Rs 90 lakh	About AIR 1,59,738 (last deemed seat)
Deemed clinical, at Rs 50 lakh a year	Fee about Rs 50 lakh a year	Pay about Rs 1.5 crore	Varies by branch

Source: Career Paathshala database, Nov 2026. Indicative. Government fees, deemed stipends, hostel and living costs not included. Round 1 ranks only.

What this means for you

• Your rank is in range for government seats: Fill those choices first, in the All India Quota and in your state. Check the stipend and the bond for each college, since both vary widely. See the state-wise stipend gap.
• Your rank reaches only paid seats in your branch: Do not assume fees will fall before you join. Compare a DNB seat, at about Rs 1.25 lakh a year with a stipend, and a second-choice branch in a government college, before you accept a paid seat.
• Your family is weighing a loan: Work out the total first: tuition for three years, hostel, deposits and the interest that builds during the course. Then compare the EMI with a realistic first salary in your branch and city.
• You are considering a non-clinical seat: Decide on today's rules. The bond exemption and lower-fee ideas are proposals. Read the bond document for your college, and choose the branch only if you can see yourself in teaching, lab or research work.

Data status

Seat numbers are from NMC's matrix of 6 Nov 2026. Fees, stipends and ranks are indicative figures from our 2026 database, with ranks from Round 1 only. Nothing here promises a seat or an income.

Want to compare fees, stipends and closing ranks for your branch? Open Know Your Branch, or book a counselling call to go through your Round 2 and Round 3 options.

Change log: Published 14 Nov 2026