Explained: NEET PG 2023 Cut-Off Reduced to 'Zero' And Why Experts Are Opposed To It

The National Medical Commission (NMC) of the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs (MoHFW), on September 20, 2023, reduced the cut-off for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-Post Graduate (PG) 2023 to “zero” across all categories. 

"It is for the information to candidates that the qualifying percentile for PG Courses (Medical/Dental) for NEET PG counselling 2023 has been reduced to 'zero' across all categories by MoHFW," according to the notice issued by the Medical Counselling Committee, Directorate of Health Services.

NEET is the only medical entrance examination for medical aspirants in the country. While NEET UG is the medical entrance examination for admission into undergraduate courses such as MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery), BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery), etc, NEET PG is for postgraduate courses such as MD (Doctor of Medicine), MS (Master of Surgery).

The decision by the union government immediately sparked an uproar on social media with several users claiming that the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya deliberately altered the cut-off percentile so that his daughter could obtain a PG seat. 

Soon after, Mandaviya in an interview with Bharat 24, denied all allegations against him. Moreover, he stated that his daughter had not even registered for the NEET examination in 2023. In such a situation, there is no question of making any alterations in the rules, he said. The exam was conducted in March this year. 

He further said that in the past years about 10,000 to 13,000 seats remained vacant in medical colleges. "Firstly, youths of the country go abroad to study medicine, secondly, seats are empty, thirdly, there's a lack of faculty and PG doctors in the country. Because of this, in the past we have reduced the qualifying percentile from 50% to 20%. However, seats are still vacant," said Mandaviya. 

This is the first time eligibility cut-off has been dropped to zero for NEET PG. However, in 2022, the Union Health Ministry had lowered the eligibility requirement for NEET-Super Speciality (SS) courses from 50 percentile to 20. NEET SS is for those candidates who already have a postgraduate degree in medicine. 

Why has the cut-off been reduced to zero?

In his interview with Bharat 24, Mandaviya said that the move was made to fill PG seats. The MCC conducts four rounds of counselling including the Stray Vacancy round. The number of rounds are extended based on the number of vacant seats. While justifying the need to reduce the cut-off to zero, the Health Ministry said that despite the efforts to fill up seats, around 13,000 postgraduate seats are vacant in medical colleges across India after two rounds of counselling.

While India has 68,142 PG medical seats, around 2.2 lakh medical graduates appeared for the exam in 2023. These seats are filled on the basis of ranking in the examination. A rank is assigned to all students automatically based on the marks they have scored on the test. The cut-off percentile before the decision to drop it to zero was 50 for the General Category, 45 for Persons with Disability and 40 for Reserved Category. 

Technically, according to the recent decision anyone who has appeared for the NEET exam is eligible for a medical seat, including those who have scored 'zero'. However, the Union Health Ministry has said that it is highly unlikely that students scoring zero will get a seat because seats will be allotted based on their rank. 

Previously, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) had appealed to the Union government to lower the cut-off. 

"Over the past years, we have witnessed a persistent challenge in the form of vacant seats in medical institutions across the nation even after multiple rounds of counselling for NEET-PG. This is a matter of concern not only for the healthcare system but also for the aspiring medical professionals who are eager to contribute to our nation's healthcare infrastructure." FORDA said in their letter to the Union Health Minister. 

Experts BOOM spoke to said that vacant seats coupled with appeals from medical associations to reduce the cut-off percentile are the main reasons for the recent decision. 

Why are PG seats vacant? 

Most vacant PG seats are in non-clinical specialities, Dr Ishwar Gilada, infectious diseases expert and a consultant for HIV/STDs told BOOM. "There are more seats and less takers in non-clinical branches such as Anatomy, Physiology, Bio-Chemistry, Forensic Medicine & Toxicology (FMT) and Preventive & Social Medicine (PSM)," he said. 

"Most candidates do not prefer non-clinical seats as they would not be able to practice or open clinics," Dr Manish Jangra, Chief Advisor & Founder of Federstion of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) told BOOM. "They will be confined to teaching positions in medical colleges." he added. 

"What the government is doing is wrong. These post graduates who are enrolled in NEET in non-clinical subjects through the zero cut-off will eventually become teachers. The foundation subjects in medicine are anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. If in the first year itself the teacher is not of required calibre then the students' foundation will be weak. The decision to reduce the cut-off to zero will eventually produce medical teachers with a weak foundation in their respective subjects," Dr Gilada explained. 

Dr Jangra echoed Dr Gilada's view, "We are against this move of the government. There should be a minimum standard in medical education. It will hamper the quality of medical education because it's ultimately we're dealing with human life," he concluded.