Shillong, Sep 15: The Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) has claimed a major victory for medical aspirants after the Meghalaya government set aside the Round-1 MBBS college allotment for the academic year 2026-27 and ordered a fresh counselling exercise.
The JSU said the decision followed its formal representation led by Education Secretary Bocheru Mi Pohsnem, flagging lack of transparency and ambiguities in the newly introduced Standard Operating Procedure for admissions.
In a speaking order issued on Tuesday, Commissioner and Secretary Dr Joram Beda said there were complaints related to the manner in which merit position, category entitlement, college preference and seat availability were taken into account, and confusion over the choice-filling process.
The order notes that the JSU had also submitted a representation seeking review, rectification and a fresh choice-filling exercise.
The government observed that the grievances were not merely individual in nature but related to how certain provisions of the newly introduced Standard Operating Procedure issued on July 31, 2026 operated during counselling. It held that correction of isolated allotments would not suffice as one allotment affects others.
As per the order, a fresh counselling and uniform choice-filling exercise will be conducted for all eligible candidates covered in Round-I. Before the fresh counselling, the Directorate of Health Services – Medical Education & Research and Meghalaya State Counselling Authority for Medical Education will issue a clarified and revised operational procedure specifying how NEET merit, category entitlement, eligibility against unreserved seats, candidate preference and seat availability will be applied. The verified institution-wise and category-wise seat matrix will be published before counselling.
The order further states that no candidate’s eligibility, NEET rank or category status will be adversely affected by setting aside the earlier allotment, nor will any candidate face penalty for having acted in good faith on the earlier allotment. The department said the decision is a corrective administrative measure to ensure uniformity, fairness and equal opportunity and to restore public confidence in the counselling process. A revised counselling schedule will be notified shortly.
The JSU said it will closely monitor the revised counselling schedule to ensure the process remains uniform, merit-based and fair.
