To include more students in the PG (Post Graduate) medical courses across the country, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MOHFW) has decided to lower the cut-off by 7.5 percentile on May 24. The National Board of Examination (NBE), which conducted the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) – PG earlier this year, carried the notification about lowering cut-off marks. The decision to lower the cut-off percentile came after various state governments informed the ministry that a lot of seats might go vacant with the current cut-off ranks.
The Ministry of Health in a letter to the Executive Director of the NBE mentioned that the ministry has consulted with the MCI (Medical Council of India) and has decided to lower the cut-off percentile for the year 2017. For general candidates the cut-off percentile will be 42.5, while for reserved category it will be 32.5. The revised merit list including the candidates who have scores meeting the cut-off will be made available on the NBE official website by today evening.
The qualifying criteria for NEET PG, conducted by NBE earlier this year, was set to be 50 percentile for general and 40 percentile for reserved category candidates.
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The lowering of cut-off marks will mean that most of the state governments will have to reopen their admission window and allow more students to take admission in the vacant seats.
Admissions took place for the 50% AIQ seats and some of the state government controlled seats as well in counselling procedures. Although most of the seats in the Paediatrics and Gynaecology branches (which are the most sought after ones) are filled, candidates will be able to get admission to most of the non-clinical branches after the lowering in cut-off marks.
In the notification issued by the Joint Secretary of Medical Education, MOHFW, Arun Singhal stated, “In excess to the powers conferred to the Central Government by Clause 9 (III) of the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, it has been decided in consultation with the MCI to reduce the percentile cut-offs for NEET-PG 2017.”
According to the directive of the Supreme Court, the state medical counselling bodies need to conclude the admission before May 31. Hence, candidates must keep an eye on the respective state government medical counselling bodies for further updates.