Candidates with benchmark disabilities: assessment for PG admission

What these guidelines are 

On 16 September 2026 the National Medical Commission published Guidelines on Assessment of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) for Admission to the Post Graduate Medical Courses. The cover of the document says 2025; its first clause and the NMC’s listing say 2026. They apply to candidates seeking MD, MS or DNB seats through NEET-PG in the PwBD category, and bind medical colleges, MCC, state counselling authorities, the Medical Assessment Boards and the appellate authority.

They replace earlier NMC and MCI guidelines and advisories on PwBD assessment for postgraduate admission, to the extent those are inconsistent with them (clause 18.1).

The threshold 

A candidate needs a benchmark disability of at least 40% to be considered in the PwBD category (clauses 7.1 and 8.1). The guidelines cover locomotor disability (including cerebral palsy, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, cured leprosy and acid attack victims), visual, hearing, and speech and language disability, blood disorders (thalassaemia, haemophilia and sickle cell disease), mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disability, intellectual disability, chronic neurological conditions and multiple disabilities.

Function, not percentage 

The guidelines move the decision from the percentage of disability to what the candidate can do:

• Disability is not by itself a disqualification. No authority may discriminate against a candidate solely because of disability (clause 7.2). A disability disqualifies only if it demonstrably prevents the candidate from acquiring the essential competencies of the course, even with reasonable accommodation (clause 7.3).
• Percentage alone confers nothing. “Disability percentage alone shall not confer eligibility” (clause 8.9), and no candidate may be found ineligible solely on the diagnosis, category or percentage (clause 11.3).
• What the board weighs. The Medical Assessment Board assesses functional competency against the essential competencies of the discipline, whether reasonable accommodation, assistive technology or support would make them achievable, whether the course can be completed, and patient safety — supported by objective evidence.

Discipline groups 

Clause 8.12 sets out, for each type of disability, the essential functional requirements, the reasonable accommodations and the suitability at 40% or more, in four discipline groups:

The entries range from suitable, through suitable on conditions or case by case, to not suitable. Read the table in the guidelines themselves for the discipline you want; multiple disabilities and blood disorders are always assessed case by case (clause 8.8).

The assessment and the certificate 

1. Evidence. The UDID card is the primary evidence, but it does not decide eligibility on its own (clause 8.3). The candidate submits a self-certified affidavit (Schedule I, with an appendix for the type of disability), and the board may call for further clinical or functional evaluation (clauses 9.5–9.6).
2. Assessment. A Medical Assessment Board designated by the DGHS or another competent authority assesses the candidate. Final eligibility is confirmed only after physical verification and functional assessment at the time of counselling or admission (clause 8.13).
3. The Eligibility Certificate. The board records one of three findings — Eligible, Eligible with Reasonable Accommodation (naming the accommodations), or Ineligible (with reasons) — on an Eligibility Certificate in the format of Schedule II. This is the document formerly known as the Disability Certificate (clause 2.5). A finding of ineligibility must be a reasoned, speaking order.

Appeal 

A candidate may appeal against the board’s finding to an Appellate Authority constituted by the DGHS. MCC fixes the time limit and manner of appeal by notification; the guidelines set no number of days. The authority may call for records, order a fresh assessment or seek expert opinion, and must give a reasoned order, which is final for counselling and admission, subject to the courts (clauses 12.1–12.4). Colleges and counselling authorities must also keep a time-bound grievance mechanism (clauses 14.1–14.2).

MCC applies the rules; the NMC makes them 

In a notice of 15 October 2026 MCC said it acts only as the executive agency for postgraduate counselling. The NMC frames the rules for candidates with disabilities — the categories, the degree of disability and suitability for each course — and MCC implements them without any power to interpret, relax or modify them. Grievances or requests for clarification about the rules themselves go to the NMC. MCC lists the designated Medical Assessment Boards and its PwD notices on its PG counselling page; see also NEET-PG counselling through MCC.