NEET PG Cut-off Reduction Helpful or Matter of Concern? Here's What the Doctors Say

New Delhi: The recent decision of the Union Health Ministry to lower the cut-off for the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2024 examination has received mixed reactions from doctors.

After the announcement of the Government to reduce the cut-off for PG medical aspirants to the 15th percentile for General /EWS candidates and the 10th percentile for SC/ST/OBC/PwD candidates, several candidates termed this decision as "irrational" on social media platforms.

Criticizing the decision, the X page for Docwithsmile wrote, "15 percentile and 10 percentile Higher rankers are not getting the desired branch now the quota Students will claim all the remaining seats and as usual UR will have to adjust with whatever they are getting."

"NEETPG is the biggest scam of goi… when they are allowing 90%of attempted candidates to take a seat… many people with deep pockets would have already booked their seats in medical colleges," wrote another X user.

"If the government is so desperate about filling vacant seats, why not slash the fees instead of taking the easy route & lowering the cut-off marks? Seems many deserving candidates with "good ranks" skipped counseling, probably due to those "reasonable" fees," Dr Mayursinh Jadeja wrote on Twitter.

Another user wrote on X, "The recent Neet PG cut off says as per Mohfw kindly can the ministry expln how decrease in cut off actually hlps the cause and nt increase rates of seats or is ministry aware of it and yet supporting it People are watching...turning eductn into business."

Also Read: NEET PG 2024 counselling cutoff percentile reduced, Check all details

Dr. Rohan Krishnan, the Chief Patron of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and a health activist, has voiced the same opinion. While commenting on the matter, Dr. Krishnan said that the continuous reduction of the NEET PG percentile is not a good option for the Government as it would be equivalent to playing with the merits of the students. As an alternative, he suggested reducing the fees for the PG medical courses in the private medical colleges.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, Dr. Krishnan said, "Continuous reduction of the NEET PG percentile is not a good option for the Government because somehow we are playing with the merits of the students. The affordability of medical education must be maintained. So, the fees of the private medical colleges should be curtailed so that more meritorious students get a chance to take part in the admission process of private medical colleges. Usually, the seats which remain vacant are of the private medical colleges because the students cannot afford the exorbitant or the high fees. So, this is the reason why seats remain vacant and then we have to reduce the cut-off to fill up the seats."

"On the one hand, this filling of the seats is an essential criterion of the NEET PG examination because it is an entrance examination and the sole purpose of any entrance examination is that the seats have been filled. On the other hand, it is important for us to make sure that the quality of medical students or postgraduate students remains par excellence. So one must think about how to reduce the fee structure in the private sector and we should give tax benefits and other benefits to the private sector," he added.

Dr. Krishnan opined that another reason why the seats remain vacant is that the National Medical Commission (NMC) given its permission to too many colleges. "There are too many colleges which NMC has given permission arbitrarily. There has been no physical inspection of many colleges. There is no faculty in many colleges. So, the NMC has deteriorated the criteria for the medical colleges in the country, In such a scenario it is very difficult because it is going to damage the healthcare structure in the country in the coming years because we will be having doctors who are less qualified, who have not gone through proper training, who have not gone through proper teaching and this is something one must avoid," he said.

However, the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN), which had earlier urged the authorities to lower the NEET-PG 2024 cut-off, has welcomed the Government's decision to reduce the cut-off percentile.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post, the association wrote, "Great Success for IMA JDN! IMA JDN extends its gratitude to the Government of India, @JPNadda Ji @MoHFW_INDIA, and the @NbeIndia for addressing IMA JDN’s demand for a *reduction in the NEET PG percentile.* Thankful to IMA Hqs for the support. #neetpg2024 #IMAJDN."

IMA JDN had urged the Government to lower the cut-off while highlighting that after the completion of Round 2 of the All India counselling, 15000-16000 PG seats may remain vacant. They had stressed that reducing the NEET PG cut-off marks would ensure optimal utilization of available medical seats, provide aspirants another chance to pursue their desired career path, foster talent development, and address the disparity between the growing demand for specialized healthcare services and the availability of qualified professionals.

Commenting on the matter, Dr. Indranil Deshmukh, the National Convenor of IMA JDN told Medical Dialogues, "I welcome the government’s decision to lower the NEET-PG cut-off,it is a progressive step toward addressing seat vacancies and ensuring optimal utilization of resources in medical education.This move would help aspiring doctors secure postgraduate seats and strengthen the healthcare system by filling critical gaps."

Also Read: Reduce NEET-PG 2024 Cut-off: Doctors write to Health Minister