<p>The decision was notified by National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which revised qualifying percentiles across categories to expand eligibility for counselling and admissions. </p> — The decision was notified by National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which revised qualifying percentiles across categories to expand eligibility for counselling and admissions.

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday lowered qualifying cut-off for NEET-PG 2025, paving the way to fill over 9,000 vacant PG medical seats, amid concerns that a big chunk of training capacity was being wasted at a time of acute doctor shortages.

Under the revised criteria, qualifying percentile for general and EWS candidates has been reduced from 50th to 7th percentile, and for general persons with benchmark disability (PwBD) from 45th to 5th percentile. For SC, ST and OBC candidates, the percentile has been reduced from 40 to zero, with the corresponding cut-off score fixed at -40 out of 800 (due to negative marking).

The decision was notified by National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which revised qualifying percentiles across categories to expand eligibility for counselling and admissions. Officials said around 2.4 lakh candidates appeared for NEET-PG this year, but a high cut-off had left thousands of seats unfilled.

Officials said India has 65,000-70,000 PG medical seats, and allowing nearly one in seven seats to remain vacant would weaken teaching hospitals and strain healthcare delivery, particularly in govt institutions that rely heavily on resident doctors. The relaxation followed a representation by Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had written to Union health minister JP Nadda on Jan 12, seeking a rational revision of cut-offs to prevent large-scale vacancies.

Explaining the move, NBEMS officials said the entrance exam is meant to generate a merit list, not to reassess the competence of doctors who have already cleared MBBS and university exams. “You can’t afford to let 9,000-10,000 PG seats go to waste,” an official said.

The official acknowledged that sharp percentile reductions attract criticism but said the admission cycle was already delayed. “Earlier, cut-offs were lowered in stages. This time, we are late. The focus is to fill seats and avoid losing national medical resources,” he said.

NBEMS clarified that the cut-off change does not alter exam scores or ranks, but only decides who is eligible to participate in counselling. Officials said the percentile system is used to rank already qualified doctors, and the cut-off was lowered simply to ensure enough candidates are available to fill all PG seats.

IMA warned that vacant PG seats worsen resident doctor shortages, increase workload, disrupt academics and hurt patient care, especially in government and peripheral hospitals.