NEET-PG cut-off reduced to zero: Medical fraternity in Odisha flags alarm over falling academic standards

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences’ (NBEMS) decision to reduce the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2025 to zero for SC, ST and OBC candidates has triggered widespread concern among doctors and academicians, who warn that the move reflects a disturbing dilution of academic standards in postgraduate medical education.

As per a notification issued on January 13, NBEMS has lowered the qualifying percentile for the third round of counselling:

General category: From 50th percentile to 7th percentile
PwD category: From 45th percentile to 5th percentile
SC, ST, OBC: Reduced to zero percentile

This unprecedented move allows even candidates who scored negative marks, as low as minus 40 out of 800, to participate in counselling for postgraduate medical seats.

While authorities cite the need to fill vacant seats, the medical fraternity fears that such drastic relaxation could have long-term consequences for patient care and public health.

“Medicine Is Not a Skill You Can Learn by Compromise”

Senior doctors across Odisha have expressed grave concern over the decision, calling it a dangerous precedent. “Medicine is not a skill you can learn by compromise. If a student fails to demonstrate even basic conceptual understanding, how can we trust them with critical patient care? This is not about marks, it is about competence,” said a doctor in Bhubaneswar.

He added that postgraduate training involves managing intensive care units, emergency wards and life-threatening conditions. “A weak foundation today means unsafe hands tomorrow,” he added.

“This Will Ultimately Hit the Patient First”

Public health experts further warn that the impact of such decisions will not remain limited to classrooms and examination halls, it will directly affect patients.

“A poorly trained specialist is a risk to society. Whether it is a surgeon, anesthetist, pediatrician or physician, their decisions decide life and death. Lowering the bar this drastically will ultimately hit the patient first,” the doctor said.

He added that India already faces challenges in maintaining uniform standards across medical institutions. “Instead of strengthening medical education, we are weakening the filter,” he warned.

Academic Dilution in the Name of Seat Filling?

NBEMS has not publicly explained why such a drastic reduction was required. However, sources in the medical education sector point to a large number of vacant PG seats after earlier rounds of counselling.

“If seats are lying vacant, the solution is to improve undergraduate training and mentorship - not to open the gates for academically unprepared candidates,” he suggested while warning that this could damage India’s reputation in medical education.

“Reservation Was Never Meant to Mean Zero Merit”

Several people also emphasised that reservation policies were intended to ensure representation, not to eliminate academic merit altogether.

“Reservation was introduced to create opportunity, not to eliminate accountability. Zero percentile is not social justice, it is academic injustice,” said a Cuttack resident, adding, “You cannot experiment with human lives in the name of policy decisions.”

A Dangerous Precedent for the Future

It is also feared that this decision could become a precedent for future examinations, leading to a systematic erosion of standards.

“Postgraduate doctors become future teachers, policymakers and hospital leaders. If the foundation is weak, the entire healthcare system weakens,” he warned.

The Bigger Question: Who Pays the Price?

While the decision may temporarily solve the problem of vacant PG seats, critics argue that the long-term cost will be paid by ordinary patients.

“When an under-trained doctor makes a mistake, it is not a number that suffers, it is a human being,” said a local.

The reduction of NEET-PG qualifying percentile to zero for reserved categories has ignited a serious debate on the future of medical education in India. While access and inclusion are vital, experts insist that competence cannot be negotiable in a profession that deals with human lives.

As India strives to become a global healthcare hub, the medical community believes that diluting academic standards is a step in the wrong direction - one that the country can ill afford.