Archive · 18 Sep 2026
NMC Introduces Discipline-Specific PwBD Guidelines for NEET PG 2026
The National Medical Commission has created new rules for students with benchmark disabilities who want to study medicine after MBBS.
These students are called PwBD candidates.
Their abilities will now be assessed based on the medical speciality they want to enter.
Different rules will apply to surgical, clinical, pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects.
This is different from the older system, which relied more heavily on the percentage of disability.
The new approach looks more closely at what each student can do.
The rules follow concerns raised by the Supreme Court about possible discrimination.
The guidelines will be used for the 2026-27 postgraduate admission cycle.
The National Medical Commission issued new guidelines for assessing PwBD candidates seeking MD/MS admission.
The framework evaluates candidates according to the medical speciality they choose.
MD/MS programmes are divided into surgical, other clinical, pre-clinical and para-clinical categories.
The approach replaces largely uniform percentage-based assessment with a more individualised evaluation of abilities.
The guidelines apply to the 2026-27 postgraduate medical admission cycle and counselling process.
- Who
- The National Medical Commission and PwBD candidates seeking MD/MS admission.
- What
- The NMC issued discipline-specific guidelines for assessing PwBD candidates for postgraduate medical education.
- When
- The guidelines were released on Thursday and will apply to the 2026-27 admission cycle.
- Where
- They apply to admissions to postgraduate medical programmes in India.
- Why
- The NMC aims to assess candidates more individually and address concerns about discriminatory or exclusionary disability rules.
- Issuing body
- National Medical Commission
- Affected candidates
- Persons with benchmark disabilities seeking MD/MS admission
- Admission cycle
- 2026-27 postgraduate medical admission cycle
- Assessment categories
- Surgical skills and manipulation, other clinical, pre-clinical and para-clinical specialities
- Earlier approach
- Assessment relied largely on uniform, percentage-based disability criteria
- New approach
- Assessment is linked to the candidate’s abilities and chosen speciality
- Context
- The changes followed a Supreme Court intervention concerning earlier NMC disability regulations