NEET PG cutoff: Centre constitutes 12-member expert committee to review admission system
New Delhi: In a latest update in the ongoing petition challenging the drastic reduction in the NEET PG 2025 qualifying cut-off, the Union Government has informed the Supreme Court that it has constituted a 12-member Expert Committee under the chairmanship of the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to comprehensively review the PG admission system and recommend reforms.
The development came during the hearing of a batch of petitions, including one filed by the United Doctors' Front (UDF), challenging the government's decision to sharply reduce the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025-26.
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was informed by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati that, in compliance with the court's oral directions, the government had constituted the committee through a notification dated July 23. The 12-member panel is chaired by the DGHS.
Bhati submitted that the committee has been tasked with formulating a mechanism to conduct a comprehensive audit of the existing NEET admission system, identify lacunae and gaps in the current process, and recommend practical and implementable solutions.
Recording the government's submission, the bench granted the committee eight weeks to submit its report. "We will actively discuss the issue once the report comes in," the bench observed.
The Supreme Court also said that the committee may co-opt members from the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH).
Committee Formation
An office order issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on July 23, 2026, stated that the committee has been constituted following the directions of the Supreme Court in Harisharan Devgan & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors.
The committee will be chaired by DGHS Dr Loveeneesh G. Krishna and includes Dr Sunita Mondal, Adviser, ME Cell and Additional DGHS; Dr Nita Khurana, Additional DG (MWB), Dte.GHS; Dr G. Kausalya, DDG (LME), Dte.GHS; Dr B. Srinivas, DDG (BS), Dte.GHS; Dr Vinay Gupta, Additional Director, National Board of Examinations (NBE); representatives of the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Testing Agency (NTA); Sh. Kumar Rahul, Director, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW); Dr Praveen Kumar Dass, ADG (ME), who will serve as the Member Secretary; Sh. Sachin Prabhakar, Senior Scientist, National Informatics Centre (NIC); and Sh. Manvendra Pratap, Deputy Director (ME Cell).
According to the office order, the committee has been assigned three key tasks. It will formulate a mechanism for conducting a comprehensive audit of the existing admission system through the NEET examination by involving various stakeholders. It will also identify lacunae and gaps in the current system and recommend practical and implementable solutions to address them.
Sharing the update in a post on X, Dr Lakshya Mittal, Chairperson, UDF, wrote, "As petitioners, we will also submit our recommendations before the Expert Committee. Stakeholders are invited to share constructive suggestions with us. We will endeavour to incorporate well-founded recommendations in our representation."
Background
Medical Dialogues had reported that 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.
Earlier, the top court said it would examine whether the sharp reduction in the qualifying marks for NEET-PG 2025-26 affects the standard of postgraduate medical education.
The top court had said that although the Union was justified in stating that NEET-PG was not an entry into MBBS and that candidates are already doctors, the court would still like to consider the effect of reducing the cut-off.
Petitions have been filed in the apex court by social worker Harisharan Devgan, Dr Saurav Kumar, Dr Lakshya Mittal and Dr Akash Soni claiming that the cut-off reduction violates Articles 14 and 21.
Senior advocate Pinky Anand and advocate Satyam Singh Rajput appeared for Devgan in the matter. The petitioners had challenged the January 13 notice issued by the NBEMS.
The Director General of Health Services of the Union Health Ministry, in its affidavit filed in the matter, had said that the challenge by petitioners pertains to an academic and policy determination taken by competent statutory authorities under the National Medical Commission Act 2019 in public interest and within the domain of expert regulation.
"It is respectfully submitted that the reduction of qualifying percentile for NEET-PG is not unprecedented. Since the inception of NEET-PG in 2017, percentile reductions have been effected in appropriate circumstances to prevent seat wastage. In the academic year 2023 as well, the qualifying percentile was reduced to zero across categories. The present decision is thus consistent with the established policy and administrative practice," it had said.
The Centre said scores in the NEET-PG examination are a function of relative performance and examination design, which cannot be construed as determinative of clinical incompetence.
"It is pertinent to note that the purpose of the NEET-PG is not to certify minimum competence which stands established by the MBBS qualification itself of the candidates but to generate an inter se merit list for allocation of limited postgraduate seats," it said.
The Centre submitted that the eligibility criterion to appear in NEET-PG requires a candidate to possess a recognised MBBS degree and to have completed the compulsory rotating internship.
It said for the academic session 2025-26, total seats available were approximately 70,000, corresponding to the total 2,24,029 candidates, while 31,742 seats were under All-India Quota (AIQ) across various specialities.
It pointed out that after Round 2 of NEET-PG counselling, 9,621 seats remained vacant under the AIQ.
"Out of these, 5,213 seats were vacant in government medical colleges alone (including AIQ and DNB seats). This factual position conclusively demonstrates that the reduction of percentile was not undertaken to benefit private medical institutions, but to prevent large-scale vacancy of seats, including in government institutions created through public expenditure," it said.
The government said it is a settled principle that courts ordinarily refrain from interfering in academic and policy decisions taken by expert bodies unless such decisions are shown to be manifestly arbitrary, mala fide, or violative of statutory or constitutional provisions.
Earlier, the NBEMS told the top court that 95,913 additional candidates had become eligible for NEET-PG 2025 counselling after the qualifying cut-off percentile was reduced.
