Days before the NEET results were published, the Union health ministry denied 82 existing medical colleges renewal permission for the academic session of 2018-19 due to non-fulfilment of various criteria.
The ministry banned 12 government and 70 medical colleges from accepting students, blocking more than 10,000 MBBS seats available nationwide. In 2017, around 65,000 students had taken admission in government and private medical colleges across the country.
The ministry's decisions, which were taken on Thursday, were based on the recommendations from the Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex regulatory body for medical education in the country.
The denial will impact Uttar Pradesh the most as 15 medical colleges in the state have been denied permission to admit students.
The ministry has also rejected proposals to approve 68 new medical colleges, including two in West Bengal and four in Bihar. Of these, 37 are from private institutions, including the Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Medical Sciences and Sanaka Hospitals, Durgapur, and the Sarif Medical College and Hospital, Siliguri.