Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 14 October 2025
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS) has addressed concerns regarding vacant MBBS seats reserved under the All India Quota (AIQ), clarifying that no seats remain unfilled following the counselling process.
In a press release, ANIIMS referred to Notice No. U-12021/06/2021 dated December 18, 2021, issued by the office of the Additional Director General (Medical Education), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. The notice explicitly states that “no AIQ seats will be reverted back to the respective States after the completion of AIQ Round 2 counselling.”
The Ministry’s decision follows a directive from the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Nihila PP versus The Medical Counselling Committee & Others, which mandated four rounds of online counselling for AIQ seats: AIQ Round I, AIQ Round II, AIQ Mop-up Round, and AIQ Stray Vacancy Round. Seats previously reverted to States after Round II are now filled through the AIQ Mop-up and Stray Vacancy rounds conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee.
At ANIIMS, AIQ seats constitute 15% of the total undergraduate MBBS intake, translating to 17 out of 114 seats. ANIIMS confirmed that following the MoHFW notification dated December 18, 2021, all AIQ seats were successfully filled, leaving no seats vacant.
ANIIMS emphasized that it continues to follow the Ministry’s guidelines to ensure the fair and transparent allocation of MBBS seats every year.
