Parliament Question: Dilution of qualifying standards for postgraduate medical admissions

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE RAJYASABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2055 TOBE ANSWERED ON10TH MARCH, 2026 DILUTION OFQUALIFYING STANDARDSFORPOSTGRADUATE MEDICAL ADMISSION 2055MS.SUSHMITADEV: Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFARE be pleased tostate: (a) whether it is a fact that the qualifying cut-off marks for postgraduate medical admissions were drasticallyreduced in2025; (b) whether Government acknowledges that such reductions have made candidates with extremely low or even negative scores eligible for counselling, raising concerns over academicstandards andmerit inpostgraduate medicaleducation; (c) whether the primary reason for reducing cut-offs was the failure to fill over 18,000 PG medicalseats evenafter multiple rounds of counselling; and (d) whether Government has assessed the risk of compromising the quality of specialist trainingandpatient safety by admittingcandidateswith verylowperformance scores? ANSWER THE MINISTEROFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL) (a) to (d): The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) of the Directorate General of Health Services(DGHS) conductscounselling for postgraduate medicalcourses inaccordance with the scheme laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The NEET-PG counselling conducted by MCC covers 50% All India Quota (AIQ) seats and 100% seats of Central/Deemed Universities across the country. Further, counselling for the State quota PG seats and seats in private medical colleges is conducted by the respective State counselling authorities. The decision to revise the qualifying percentiles was taken following the completion of Round- 2 counselling by MCC wherein it was reported that out of 29,476 seats offered by MCC for counselling, 9,621 seats remained vacant.Further, as counselling for 50% seats isconducted by respective state authorities, it was assessed that approximately 20,000 seats (including DNB seats) were vacant after two rounds. Hence, consistent with past academic years which had proven effective in ensuring maximum seat utilisation, the Government reduced the qualifyingpercentile for eligibility to PG Counselling 2025 to ensure precious PG medical seats do not remainvacant.The revised qualifyingpercentilesfor NEETPG 2025are asunder:  UR Category: Eligibility reducedtoabove 7percentiles  UR–PwDCategory: Eligibilityreducedtoabove 5percentiles  SC/ ST/ OBC Categories: All candidatesdeclaredqualified The Candidates appearing in NEET-PG are MBBS graduates, who have passed the examinations conducted bythe respective universities and also undergone rigorous internship and are therefore academically eligible for postgraduate training. NEET-PG is primarily a ranking exam rather than a competency-evaluation test for candidates andperformance in the entrance examination does not replace or reduce the rigorous training, supervision and assessment processes prescribed bythe National Medical Commission (NMC). ******