It is extraordinary that the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences has given academic considerations a back seat and weakened the eligibility norms for postgraduate medical admissions under
the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test–PG (NEET PG). A candidate from SC, ST and OBC categories, falling within the zero percentile in the test, is now eligible, in a move apparently designed to stave off a crisis of unfilled seats. In practical terms, this reduces the cut-off score for these candidates to an incredible minus 40, as against the originally stipulated 235. A similar slashing of scores makes more candidates from general, economically weaker sections and benchmarked disability categories eligible.
This disruptive decision, taken on the basis of instructions from the Union Health Ministry, is a reaction to the shocking prospect of about 18,000 PG medical seats remaining vacant halfway through the counselling process. That such a situation should arise in a country with a large pool of MBBS graduates and insufficient specialist doctors in several states, particularly the Northeast, calls for close scrutiny of the underlying factors.
Questions over merit and fairness
Moreover, by heavily diluting the NEET PG qualification, the NBE has called into question the very rationale of the test compared to marks scored by candidates in the graduate examination. It is difficult to maintain that the test remains a sound scientific filter and is fair to candidates who prepared rigorously in previous years.
Skewed distribution of seats
A few states have a larger share of PG medical seats, led by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan, followed by West Bengal, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. The Union Territory of Puducherry has nearly as many seats as Bihar. Several thousand of these are in private medical colleges, again with Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu leading.
It is reasonable to ask what pressures persuaded the Union government to dilute qualifications for seats that cost crores of rupees in private institutions. The NBE’s explanation that this would prevent costly medical education resources from being wasted begs the question of whether the undergraduate medical degree fails to produce enough meritorious candidates for PG studies.
Structural flaws in medical education
The answer may lie in the lack of rigour in many private institutions. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare focused heavily on undergraduate studies in its report on the Quality of Medical Education in 2024 but did identify low intake capacity at the postgraduate level — only around 68,000 seats for over two lakh aspirants. Clearly, a lot of the available capacity goes abegging, the reasons for which must be examined.
Among the issues identified by the parliamentary panel is the high cost of medical education, which filters out meritorious but weakly resourced candidates. They need grants and scholarships. Faculty vacancies must be filled as a priority. Medical education is evidently anaemic and in need of urgent quality infusion.
