CHENNAI: The decision taken by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) to allow candidates who have secured zero or negative marks to participate in counselling for postgraduate (PG) medical courses has triggered widespread criticism from various sections.
This year, around 2.4 lakh doctors appeared for the NEET PG examination. The Union Government has stated that the decision to relax the eligibility criteria was taken to prevent nearly 9,000 postgraduate medical seats from remaining vacant.
As part of this relaxation, the qualifying percentile for candidates from the General and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) has been reduced from 50 percentile to 7 percentile, and the cutoff score has been lowered from 276 to 103. Similarly, for SC, ST, and OBC candidates, the qualifying percentile has been reduced from 40 to zero percentile, with the cutoff score fixed at minus (- 40). These changes have drawn sharp criticism.
It is said that recently Indian Medical Association (IMA) had written a letter a few days ago to Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, urging the government to ensure that PG medical seats do not remain vacant and requesting a reduction in the cutoff marks. Following this, the Union Government has now announced the reduction in cutoff scores.
Speaking to DT Next, Dr Shanthi of the Doctors Association for Social Equality has said that the Union Government is supporting private medical institutions by lowering cutoff marks without fixing affordable and uniform fee structures. According to her, lowering the cutoff contradicts the Union Government's claim that NEET was introduced to produce quality doctors in the country.
Educationist Jayaprakash Gandhi questioned what guarantee exists that the Union Government will not similarly reduce cutoff marks for undergraduate medical courses in the future, in the interest of private medical colleges.
Responding to the criticism, the National Board of Examinations clarified that while the cutoff marks have been reduced, there has been no change in the actual marks obtained by candidates. Also, it clarified that the relaxation is solely meant to determine eligibility for participation in the counselling process.