NEET PG Counselling: IMA backs rank-based admissions but flags patient safety concerns

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday called for safeguards to ensure that merit and minimum academic standards are not compromised in postgraduate medical admissions, saying the NMC's proposed shift to a rank-based system for NEET-PG and NEET-SS should not become a means of filling vacant seats at the cost of merit and patient safety. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has given in-principle approval to replacing the existing percentile-based system with a rank-based merit system for admissions to postgraduate and super-speciality medical courses.

Under the proposed arrangement, only ranks, and not percentile scores, will be declared in examination results. The proposed system is yet to be notified through final NMC regulations . A draft regulation is expected to be issued for stakeholder consultation.

In a statement, the doctors' body welcomed the proposal, saying a transparent, predictable and time-bound counselling mechanism was desirable. However, it said merely replacing the percentile-based system with a rank-based one would not address the underlying concerns over vacant postgraduate seats and the lowering of qualifying standards. "Medical education is not merely about filling seats; it is about creating competent specialists who will be responsible for human lives," IMA president Dr Anil Kumar J Nayak said, stressing that merit and minimum academic competency must remain non-negotiable. He said no candidate should become eligible for postgraduate medical education merely through arbitrary relaxation of qualifying standards to fill vacant seats.

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The proposal, which is part of the recommendations made by a 12-member expert committee to the Supreme Court, aims to reduce delays between counselling rounds and facilitate completion of the admission process within the stipulated academic calendar. The issue of vacant postgraduate medical seats has also triggered concerns over repeated reductions in qualifying percentiles, with doctors arguing that such relaxations could make candidates with very low or even negative scores eligible for admission. The IMA said the reasons behind the vacancies needed to be examined instead of resorting to relaxations in qualifying standards.

"Vacant seats should be addressed by identifying the underlying reasons, including disproportionately high fees, inadequate infrastructure, faculty shortages, disparities in stipends and unattractive working conditions in certain specialties," IMA headquarters' finance secretary Dr Piyush Jain said. He said structural reforms were required to make less-preferred specialties and institutions more attractive to medical graduates rather than simply lowering eligibility thresholds to fill available seats. Jain also emphasised the need to address disparities in stipends and improve infrastructure and faculty availability, saying these factors could influence candidates' choices during postgraduate counselling.

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The IMA said counselling should be transparent and uniform, with the entire process completed within the prescribed academic calendar to avoid uncertainty for candidates and delays in the commencement of academic sessions. It also called for consultations with all stakeholders, including the IMA, medical colleges, faculty members and resident doctors, before the proposed regulations are finalised.

Nayak said the association supported progressive reforms in medical education but maintained that their objective should be to strengthen the quality of healthcare rather than merely improve admission statistics. The association further stressed that every postgraduate seat should be filled through a fair and transparent process, but not by compromising the standards required to train competent medical specialists.

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The NMC's proposed shift to a rank-based system is expected to do away with the need for separate permission from a competent authority to lower qualifying percentiles during subsequent counselling rounds, a mechanism currently used when seats remain vacant. However, the IMA maintained that the admission framework must ensure that candidates entering postgraduate and super-speciality courses meet the minimum academic standards necessary for their training and future clinical responsibilities. "Every PG seat should be filled through a fair process, but never at the cost of merit, medical competence and patient safety," the association said.