NEET PG: Filling seats by lowering standards is abdication of responsibility- FAIMA flags PG medical education issues

New Delhi: Raising concerns over the continued vacancy of NEET PG seats and repeated reduction of qualifying cut-offs, a doctors' body has called for transparent, time-bound counselling, uniform stipend and humane bond policies for young doctors.

In a detailed statement, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) said that the issue reflects deep structural problems in India’s postgraduate medical education system rather than a lack of interest among young doctors.

FAIMA Chief Patron Dr Rohan Krishnan said, "These are not isolated phenomena, nor are they attributable to a lack of interest among young doctors. They are the direct outcome of policy, governance, and planning failures. Despite an acute shortage of specialists across India, postgraduate seats remain unfilled."

The issue comes after the Union Government recently told the Supreme Court that NEET PG is not an entry-level examination like MBBS and that candidates appearing for it are already qualified doctors. It defended its decision, stating that NEET-PG does not certify minimum competence, which is established by the MBBS qualification, but is merely a filtering mechanism for allocation of limited postgraduate seats.

NBE in a notice dated 13.01.2026, reduced the minimum qualifying percentile cut-off for counselling of the third round of National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025-2026 for various categories of candidates.

As per the revised qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025, for the academic session 2025-2026, for the General/EWS, General PwBD, SC/ST/OBC(Including PwBD of SC/ST/OBC) categories, the revised qualifying cut-off is 7th, 5th, and 0th percentile, respectively. Therefore, the revised cut-off score after lowering the cut-off percentile is 103 for General/EWS, 90 for General PwBD, and -40 for SC/ST/OBC(Including PwBD of SC/ST/OBC) categories, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry apprised the parliament that the Government reduced the qualifying percentile for eligibility to NEET PG Counselling 2025 to ensure precious PG medical seats do not remain vacant. 

While doctors admit that empty seats are a problem, they believe the solution should not be lowering standards to an extreme level that could jeopardise the safety of patients.

According to them, postgraduate medical education is not just the next academic step; it is advanced clinical training where doctors learn to perform surgeries, handle ICU cases, and make life-saving decisions. If students who do not have strong basic knowledge enter these courses, it could affect the quality of specialist training and, in the long run, patient safety.

Similarly, Dr Rohan also said that quality cannot be sacrificed for convenience and expressed concern over two key issues - the reduction in NEET-PG percentile cut-offs and the growing number of vacant postgraduate seats.

Also read- Negative, single digit scorers allotted MD, MS seats! Doctors decry NEET PG 2025 cutoff

Providing the reason for such vacant seats, the association stated that the rapid increase in postgraduate seats has not been matched with adequate Faculty strength, Patient load, Clinical exposure, and teaching infrastructure.

"Candidates are increasingly unwilling to join institutions where training quality is uncertain, as a compromised residency can permanently affect professional competence," the association said. 

It further highlighted that many vacant seats are concentrated in Remote or underserved regions, Institutions with erratic stipends and Colleges with excessive workload, inadequate safety, and weak academic culture, following which young doctors are not avoiding service but they are avoiding exploitative and unsafe training environments.

Another major concern flagged was arbitrary bond policies and penalties imposed by different states. These often include long compulsory service periods, heavy financial penalties running into lakhs and lakhs of rupees and unclear enforcement mechanisms. Such conditions, according to the association, discourage candidates, particularly those from modest backgrounds, from accepting certain seats that may trap them in prolonged or uncertain obligations.

The association further criticised opaque and delayed counselling processes in which multiple rounds of counselling, last-minute rule changes, and poor inter-state coordination result in candidates losing eligibility, seats remaining blocked till late rounds and no practical window for relocation or joining. As a result, the association said it accounts for thousands of wasted seats annually.

FAIMA also spoke about a trust deficit regarding regulatory oversight. When accreditation and inspections are perceived as procedural rather than quality-driven, students lose confidence in the system, said the association. Many prefer to drop a year rather than risk substandard training that cannot be undone later.

Dr Rohan said that vacant seats are a symptom of systemic dysfunction, not student apathy. 

Coming to the second part regarding the impact of cut-off reduction on medical education quality, FAIMA said that repeated lowering of NEET-PG cut-offs is often presented as a solution to vacancy. In reality, it creates long-term damage.

It pointed out that postgraduate medical education is not mass education but requires strong foundational knowledge, clinical reasoning, emotional resilience. Therefore, lowering entry thresholds without academic support systems places both residents and patients at risk.

Similarly, residents admitted far below competitive thresholds often face difficulty coping with workload, higher burnout rates and increased dropouts. "This worsens already fragile mental health conditions in residency programs," said the association. 

Not only do the residents face diffculty but the patients also face direct implications. The association stated that postgraduate trainees are frontline caregivers. Any inadequate preparedness can result in clinical errors, defensive medicine and loss of public trust.

The body also cautioned that persistent cut-off dilution could affect the international credibility of Indian PG degrees, potentially reducing global mobility and academic reputation.

According to FAIMA, lowering cut-offs diverts attention from core problems such as poor faculty recruitment, inadequate hospital infrastructure and lack of institutional accountability.

FAIMA said it wants rational seat planning aligned with national and regional health needs. It called for uniform stipends and humane bond policies across states, transparent and time-bound counselling with real-time vacancy tracking, independent quality audits before seat expansion, and strengthening of faculty and infrastructure instead of merely increasing seat numbers.

Dr Rohan said, "India does not suffer from a lack of medical graduates. India suffers from poor policy design and weak implementation. Filling seats by lowering standards is not reform—it is abdication of responsibility. FAIMA remains committed to safeguarding both medical education and patient safety."

Medical Dialogues had reported that the Supreme Court observed that it would have to examine the impact of the sharp reduction in the qualifying percentile for NEET PG 2025 on the quality of postgraduate medical education, even though the Union Government maintained that NEET PG is not an entry-level examination like MBBS and that candidates appearing for it are already qualified doctors.

Also read- NEET PG: SC to examine impact of cutoff reduction after centre maintains exam does not certify doctors' competence