Over 11K candidates in limbo as WBMCC suspends MBBS, BDS seats ‘over OBC quota’

Kolkata: The West Bengal Medical Counselling Committee (WBMCC) on Monday announced an abrupt suspension of counselling for MBBS and BDS courses.

The move has thrown 11,178 aspiring doctors into uncertainty.

According to sources, the decision may be linked to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation dispute. The decision is a result of ongoing legal challenges related to the reservation list for OBC.

An official notice issued on August 18 stated that the counselling process will remain suspended with immediate effect. “The WB NEET UG Medical Dental 2025 Counselling/Admission process has been kept in abeyance until further orders,” reads the order issued by the Director of Medical Education.

The decision came out just a day after the revised provisional merit list for 85% state quota seats was released. A total of 11,178 candidates listed in the West Bengal NEET UG provisional merit list are now left uncertain about their admissions as the first round of seat allotment, which was scheduled for August 20, has been cancelled.

Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had directed a halt to the state’s admission and recruitment procedures, citing disputes over OBC reservation.

The court later permitted the process to resume, instructing the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) to issue a fresh merit list by August 22. Following this directive, WBMCC published a revised merit list on August 16 and had set the first round of seat allotment results for release on August 20 after 4 pm. However, the new notification issued by WBMCC on Monday halted the process. The state government order, however, cited no official reason as to why the counselling was halted temporarily. Some, however, pointed out that there may be some legal obligations, as the OBC reservation dispute is still under judicial review. Various student organisations have protested against the sudden suspension.