NEET-PG, 2023 cut-off reduced to ‘zero’ percentile
In a move that is ostensibly meant to ensure that no postgraduate medical seat remains vacant but will in practice benefit private colleges, the health ministry has announced that even a candidate who has not scored any marks – or even those who scored negative marks – will be eligible for NEET PG counselling.
The move was welcomed by some doctors’ associations like the Federation of Resident Doctors in India (FORDA). Still, it was also opposed by other associations and individual doctors, who felt that the move was a “mockery” of the standard of medical education and the healthcare system.
Another doctor said that reducing the cut-off to zero percentile will encourage corruption and high fees in private medical colleges and would put the medical industry “for sale” in India.
Earlier, the minimum qualifying score for NEET PG was 50 percentile for general category students – meaning that a candidate must score better than 50% of the total candidates to qualify for the test.
After qualification, the candidates would choose seats in different departments based on cutoff scores and the availability of seats in each specialty.