Sukhmani Kooner, Pune
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is a postgraduate level entrance test for all medical graduates, administered by the National Board of Examinations. In 2022, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) had reduced the pass percentile to a mere 25% from the earlier pass percentage of 50%. For the first time, the MCC has reduced the pass percentile from 50% to zero in 2023 across all categories.
NEET PG cut-off for general category aspirants was lowered to the 35th percentile from the 50th in 2022. For students from the unreserved PwD category, the cut off was dropped to 20th percentile from the 45th percentile, and for students falling under SC, ST and OBC, the cut-off was lowered to 20th percentile from 40th.
On 20th September, the Directorate General of Health Services, issued a letter specifying the cut-off as well as announced the reopening of the online window for fresh registrations in medical schools. The Health Ministry instructed the National Medical Commission to allow editing of choices before the counselling date of the candidates. The seats would be filled according to the NEET PG counselling norms. The aspirants who become eligible in this registration phase would be allowed to participate in the 3rd round of PG counselling.
Earlier, the Health Ministry was apprised by the Indian Medical Association to reduce the cut-off for the 2023 NEET PG exam. This step was taken by them to see to it that no postgraduate seat goes empty. The staggering doctor to patient ratio in India stands at 1:834 and to tackle the overburden which was overwhelmingly felt during a medical crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the need was felt to increase the opportunities to pursue specialization.
Elected member of the Delhi Medical Council, Dr. Harish Gupta said that to prevent the seats from going vacant for both clinical and non-clinical. He assured that this move would not compromise on the quality of medical education that India imparts. However, this decision met criticism from the All India Medical Association and they termed the new cut off as “shocking” and “ridiculous”, raising concerns over the standards of the education and the entire health sector in India. This move is significant for the private players. Tamil Nadu CM, MK Stalin called the move “ NEET = 0” and coined it meritless as it makes a mockery of the PG level eligibility exam.