The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has lowered the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025 to enable more candidates to participate in the third round of counselling, reducing the cut-off to zero percentile for SC, ST and OBC candidates, effectively allowing doctors with negative scores reported to be as low as minus 40 out of 800 to compete for postgraduate medical seats.
The revision, announced on January 13 following the conclusion of Round-2 counselling, was aimed at filling more than 18,000 vacant MD and MS seats across government and private colleges.
While the Health Ministry and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have defended the move as a pragmatic step to prevent seat wastage and address doctor shortages, doctors’ groups such as the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) have raised strong objections, warning that repeated dilution of cut-offs could compromise the quality of medical education and patient care.
Officials insist that admissions will continue strictly through centralised counselling and that NEET-PG remains only a ranking mechanism among already-qualified doctors.
Revised Cut-offs To Address Widespread Seat Vacancies
According to Health Ministry sources, the decision to revise the qualifying percentile was taken after Round-2 counselling for NEET-PG 2025 revealed an alarming number of unfilled seats over 18,000 postgraduate positions remaining vacant nationwide.
Officials said that leaving such a large number of seats unoccupied not only wastes public and private investment in medical education but also undermines national efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery, particularly at a time when many hospitals face shortages of resident doctors.
Under the revised criteria, the qualifying percentile for candidates in the general and EWS categories has been lowered from the 50th to the 7th percentile, while candidates from SC, ST and OBC categories are now eligible at the 0 percentile.
Ministry sources stressed that this change does not alter ranks already declared and does not allow any form of discretionary or backdoor entry. “All NEET-PG candidates are MBBS-qualified doctors who have completed their mandatory internship.
NEET-PG is a ranking examination meant to facilitate transparent, merit-based seat allocation,” an official said, adding that admissions will continue strictly through centralised counselling based on rank, preference and seat availability.
Support From IMA And Context Of Previous Years
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had formally written to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on January 12, urging a downward revision of the cut-off, citing the persistent problem of seat wastage despite an acute shortage of doctors in public hospitals.
In its letter, the IMA argued that high eligibility thresholds were excluding “otherwise competent and willing candidates,” resulting in fewer resident doctors, increased workload on existing trainees and adverse consequences for patient care, especially in government-run institutions.
The cut-off revision was issued the very next day, on January 13. Officials have pointed out that similar measures were taken in previous years to ensure optimal utilisation of medical education infrastructure and human resources.
They maintain that the revised eligibility merely expands the pool of candidates among already-qualified doctors and does not, by itself, lower academic or clinical standards, as postgraduate training is governed by structured curricula, internal assessments and university examinations over several years.
Strong Opposition And Concerns Over Quality Of Care
Despite these assurances, the move has triggered strong opposition from several doctors’ organisations. The Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) has described the decision as “unprecedented and illogical,” arguing that reducing the qualifying percentile to zero sets a dangerous precedent.
Dr Rohan Krishnan, a FAIMA member, said that the change means even candidates with negative marks can now enter postgraduate medical training. “Doctors scoring as low as minus 40 could now pursue specialisation, practise medicine and even take part in surgeries,” he warned, calling it a “very sad” development.
Dr Krishnan alleged that the repeated lowering of cut-offs over the past five years reflects a trend driven by the need to fill seats in private medical colleges, many of which, he claimed, lack adequate faculty, patient exposure and infrastructure.
“To fill these seats, eligibility is being diluted. We are compromising merit and producing degree holders instead of good doctors,” he said, cautioning that critical specialties such as internal medicine and paediatrics could be particularly affected.
Health Ministry sources, however, have rejected allegations of commercialisation, reiterating that transparency, inter-se merit and choice-based allocation remain central to the counselling process.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
India’s healthcare system faces a complex challenge: expanding access and capacity while safeguarding quality and public trust. Preventing the wastage of thousands of postgraduate medical seats and addressing shortages of resident doctors are legitimate and urgent concerns, especially in overstretched government hospitals. At the same time, medicine is a profession where competence, rigour and accountability have life-altering consequences.
The sharp divide within the medical community over the revised NEET-PG cut-offs highlights the need for deeper, evidence-based dialogue rather than polarised positions. Policymakers must ensure that inclusion and efficient utilisation of resources go hand in hand with stronger oversight of medical colleges, improved infrastructure, adequate faculty and robust training standards.
