K’taka HC issues notice to Centre over reducing NEET PG cut-off to zero

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Centre in connection with the recent decision of the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to reduce the NEET PG qualifying percentile to zero.

The decision was challenged by Advocate Dr. Vinod Kulkarni from Hubballi. The division bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice Krishna S. Dixit issued notices to opposite parties. The notices have been issued to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the MCC and others.

In a surprising announcement, the MCC, responsible for allotting the post-graduation seats for medical education through the NEET PG exam, stated that the eligibility for the seats vacant this year will be the zero percentile.

This is the first time that the eligibility cut-off was completely done away with since the examination replaced all other medical entrance tests in 2017. Sources said that over 13,000 seats in medical colleges across the country remain vacant at present even after two rounds of counselling.

The petitioner explained that for 10 years the cut-off percentile for the NEET PG exam was 50 per cent. "The notification about doing away with a minimum of 50 per cent was published on September 20, 2023. Following the order by the MCC, any student who had attended NEET PG can get a seat of his choice. If this is the result, the country will become a factory which produces doctors. The Supreme Court has reiterated many times that merit should be the criterion for PG entrance. The new order enables more lobbying by the private medical colleges," the petition stated.

The petitioner had submitted that the direction should be given for the withdrawal of the order by the MCC in this regard and also directions should be given as per the earlier 50 per cent cut-off marks where it is mandatory for a candidate to obtain 50 per cent marks in NEET PG exams.