About 70 Per Cent AYUSH UG Seats Vacant in Madhya Pradesh as Recognition of 12 Ayurveda Colleges Is Suspended

Around 70 per cent of undergraduate seats in Madhya Pradesh under the NEET AYUSH counselling are vacant after the second round, according to the Free Press Journal. The figure was given by Dr Rakesh Pandey, a national spokesman of an Ayush doctors’ association, who said he hoped more students would show interest in the later rounds. The newspaper did not report total seat numbers or a college-wise break-up.

Colleges attribute the weak response to a recent regulatory decision. The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) suspended recognition of 12 Ayurveda colleges in Madhya Pradesh a couple of days before the report. Ayush colleges told the newspaper that this is a major reason for the poor turnout in the first two rounds. Some of the affected colleges have approached the High Court against the NCISM decision, though the report did not name them.

Medical Dialogues, in a report published on 12 October, said the commission withheld recognition from 61 Ayurveda colleges across the country for the 2026-27 academic session, of which 12 are in Madhya Pradesh. It noted that India has more than 600 Ayurveda colleges, of which 494 are recognised. The outlet reported that NCISM had earlier in 2026 derecognised nine private BAMS colleges in Madhya Pradesh and seven in Gujarat, a step expected to affect more than 1,200 BAMS seats across the two states.

Pandey cited several alleged reasons for the action in Madhya Pradesh, according to Medical Dialogues. These included refusal to permit inspections, deficiencies in inpatient and outpatient services, inadequate teaching staff, irregularities involving teaching and non-teaching personnel, and discrepancies in the functioning of colleges and their affiliated hospitals. These are allegations as relayed by the spokesman, and the reports reviewed did not include a response from the affected colleges or from NCISM on the specific findings.

The Directorate of AYUSH has issued the schedule for the third round of counselling. Registration runs from 14 to 16 October, and document verification from 15 to 17 October. Choice filling is scheduled for 28 to 30 October, with seat allocation on 3 November and temporary admission between 4 and 11 November.

Pandey told Medical Dialogues that he hopes a final decision on the recognition status of colleges in Madhya Pradesh and other states will come before government admission counselling concludes. For students, the outcome matters because the status of a college determines whether it can admit candidates. Until the matter is settled, many seats in the state are likely to remain empty, and candidates will have to decide on their choices in the third round without a final ruling on the affected colleges.