Relief from Health Ministry: NEET SS 2021 cut-off to be lowered, special mop-up round to be held

Written by Barsha Misra Published On 2022-06-15T12:21:53+05:30 | Updated On 15 Jun 2022 12:33 PM IST

Relief from Health Ministry: NEET SS 2021 cut-off to be lowered, special mop-up round to be held

New Delhi: Bringing good news to the candidates of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Super Specialty (NEET-SS) Examination 2021, the Union Health Ministry has decided to lower the cut-off percentile and conduct a special mop-up round for filling up around 1,000 vacant seats belonging to several branches of Super-Specialty.

This long awaited decision has been taken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) after it took note of the fact that even after the completion of the mop-up counselling for NEET-SS 2021, 930 super specialty seats are still lying vacant including several seats belonging to Government institutes.

Therefore, writing to the National Medical Commission (NMC) yesterday, the Under Secretary of the Government of India, Chandan Kumar mentioned in a letter, "Madam, I am directed to refer to subject mentioned above and to inform that after conduct two rounds of counselling and one mop up round of counselling. 930 super speciality scats (534 D.M/ M.Ch and 396 DNB seats) are still lying vacant. All these seats are clinical super speciality seats including some from Government medical colleges."

Announcing its decision of lowering the cut-off, the Ministry further stated in the letter directed to the NMC Secretary, "The matter was examined in the Ministry. in consultation with Dte.GHS, and it has been decided to conduct a special mop-up round to fill tip the remaining super specialty seats after reducing the percentile appropriately."

Therefore, the Health Ministry asked for comments from the NMC in this regard and mentioned in the letter, "You are therefore. requested to have the matter examined and to provide comments thereon at the earliest to enable this Office proceed further."

Medical Dialogues had recently raised this issue of vacant Super-specialty seats after the completion of all the rounds of NEET-SS 2021 Counselling. Due to the high cut-off marks, around 1,000 Super Specialty Seats are lying vacant. These seats are not only from branches that are least sought after but hundreds of seats belonging to coveted branches such as DM Cardiology (DMCD) and DNBSS Cardiology (DCRD) and those in the super-specializations of Neurology, Gastroenterology, Nephrology even oncology that are also lying vacant.

Also Read: With Around 1000 seats vacant, Lowering of cutoff, stray vacancy round much needed for NEET SS 2021

Blaming the high cut-off marks responsible for the wastage of hundreds of seats, the doctors had been writing to the authorities in this regard and praying for lowering of the cut-off percentile and arranging a stray vacancy round for filling up the vacant seats.

The counselling data available on the Government website shows that after the publication results for NEET SS 2021 Mop-Up Round, approximately 900 Super Specialty seats are still lying vacant. The number of vacant seats increased after several candidates joined AIIMS following the results of INI-SS exam.

One of the most surprising things to note is that prestigious seats such as DM and DNB Cardiology are also lying vacant because of the high cut-off. Around 200 seats belonging to coveted branches such as Cardiology could not be filled even after the mop up counselling and the doctors held the high cut-off responsible for this.

Although doctors including the FAIMA doctors association raised this issue time and again and prayed to the authorities for lowering of the cut-off marks, nothing positive has been done in this regard yet.

However, finally the Union Health Ministry has taken cognizance of the matter and writing to the National Medical Commission (NMC) the Health Ministry has announced about its decision of reducing the cut-off and conducting a special mop-up round for filling up the vacant seats.

"The matter was examined in the Ministry. in consultation with Dte.GIIS, and it has been decided to conduct a special mop-up round to fill tip the remaining super specialty scats after reducing the percentile appropriately," the Health Ministry mentioned in its recent letter.

Therefore, the Health Ministry has directed the Apex Medical Regulator NMC to examine the matter at the earliest and provide comments on the issue.

"This issues with the approval of Hon'ble HFM," read the letter dated 14.06.2022.

National Eligibility-cum-Entrance TestNEET SSneet ss 2021neet ss counselingNEET SS seatsMCHvacant seatsFAIMA doctors AssociationUnion Health MinistryMinistry of Health and Family Welfarenational medical commissionSecretary NMCNMC

Barsha Misra

Barsha completed her Master's in English from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal in 2018. Having a knack for Journalism she joined Medical Dialogues back in 2020. She mainly covers news about medico legal cases, NMC/DCI updates, medical education issues including the latest updates about medical and dental colleges in India. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.