NEET PG Cut-off: PIL in Supreme Court challenges zero percentile, -40 eligibility for future doctors

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the reduction of NEET PG cut-offs 2025 to zero and negative marks for reserved categories. The petition argued that slashing the NEET PG cut-off percentile to zero defeats the purpose of the national-level exam.

The plea stated that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - postgraduate (NEET PG) was introduced to curb donation-based admissions and ensure merit-based selection in medical education. However, social workers and doctors who filed the PIL in the top court said that the reduction of the qualifying cut-off to “abnormally low levels” defeats the purpose.

According to the Indian Doctor X account, lowering the NEET PG cut-off also undermines academic standards, adversely affecting meritorious students from economically weaker sections and raises concerns over patient safety and medical ethics.

Concerns over merit, patient safety

As per the revised NEET PG cut-off approved by the ministry of health and family welfare, SC, ST, and OBC candidates who have obtained as low as “minus 40 marks” in NEET PG will be eligible for admission. The NEET PG exam carries a total of 800 marks.

Several medical professional, political leaders, and aspirants also expressed concerns regarding the negative cut-offs

A X user wrote: “Someone who just sits for the exam will become a doctor and do surgeries. This country has no future for hardworking people. The collapse has already begun!”

Dr Dhruv Chauhan said: “I don’t know how to react to this, but now candidates scoring “Minus - 40”marks are also eligible to get NEET PG seats. In simple language if you have money or a specific category then even if you slept in the exam and scored negative marks = someone who topped /worked hard.”

Also read NEET PG 2025: SC directs NBE to publish raw scores, answer key; Aadhaar tracking, penalties for seat blocking

Lowering NEET PG not a solution: Doctors

Later, officials said that the NEET PG cut-offs have been lowered to fill 18,000 vacant MD and MS seats. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has been approving several new MBBS and PG medical seats during the counselling process this year, after the government gave its nod for around 10,000 seats.

Reacting to this, the Indian Doctor said: “If the government's real objective is only to fill the vacant seats in private medical colleges, then there is a simple and just solution available. These seats should be distributed among the merit-based selected students at the government fee rate. By doing so, there would be no need to unnecessarily lower the cut-off.”

“Lowering the cut-off is not a solution, but rather a way to hide the problem!! The consequences of which have to be borne by merit, patient safety, and honest students,” it added.

Also read Low score, pay more! NEET UG, PG tail-enders bag seats through NRI quota

NEET PG cut-off drops to “0” for second time

Notably, this is not the first time the health ministry has reduced the cut-off to zero. Earlier in 2023, the NEET PG qualifying cut-offs were reduced during round 3 counselling process to prevent vacant seats. Even though the decision was termed “murder of merit”, the ministry did not withdraw its decision.

The following year, NEET PG percentile was slashed to 15 percentile for the general and 10 percentile for reserved categories.