NEET PG cut-off reduction aimed at preventing seat wastage, not diluting standards: Centre tells SC

The union government has informed the Supreme Court that nearly 70,000 postgraduate medical seats were available for the 2025–26 academic session, while 2,24,029 candidates appeared for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET PG 2025), defending its decision to reduce the qualifying percentile for the …. Round of NEET PG counselling, say reports.

Live Law reports that while defending the NEET PG cutoff reduction the centre submitted that of the 31,742 All India Quota (AIQ) seats, 9,621 remained vacant after Round 2 counselling, including 5,213 seats in government medical colleges and DNB institutions.

The union government stated that lowering the percentile cut-off made an additional 1,00,054 candidates eligible for Round 3, increasing the total eligible pool to 2,28,170. Following the third round of counselling, only 2,988 seats remained vacant. The centre argued that the move was aimed at preventing seat wastage and strengthening specialist healthcare capacity.

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Live Law reported that in its affidavit, the Union of India clarified that NEET PG is not meant to certify minimum competence, which is already established through the MBBS qualification, but serves as a filtering mechanism to generate an inter se merit list for allocating limited postgraduate seats. It said NEET PG scores reflect relative performance and examination design and cannot be construed as proof of clinical incompetence.

Responding to patient safety concerns, the affidavit stated that such fears are “misplaced” as all admitted candidates are licensed MBBS practitioners entitled to practise independently.

It noted that postgraduate education is a structured three-year supervised training programme where candidates work under senior faculty, and final competence is rigorously assessed through MD,MS examinations requiring at least 50% marks separately in theory and practical without relaxation, the livelaw report said.

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The Centre further stated that percentile reductions are not unprecedented, noting that similar steps were taken in previous years, including 2023. It argued that such policy decisions fall within the executive domain and are aimed at preventing wastage of public investment in medical infrastructure while maintaining merit-based allocation of seats.