The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reduced the cut off percentile to zero across all categories for the NEET PG 2023 Counselling on Wednesday amid the ongoing admission session.
The official notification which is available on the official website of the Medical Counselling Committee (mcc.nic.in) also announced that the fresh registration & choice filling for Round-3 of NEET PG 2023 Counselling will be opened again for candidates who have become eligible after reduction of percentile.
Those candidates who are already registered need not register again. However, they will be allowed to edit their choices.
The announcement amid the ongoing admission process has left many aspiring students and parents confused.
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What does the cut-off reduction to zero percentile mean?
Percentile as a measure explains to us how well the student has fared in the examination in comparison to others.
That means the percentile shows the percentage of candidates who scored lower or higher than the student who attempted the exam.
The earlier criterion for candidates taking the NEET PG exam to be eligible for admissions was to secure 50 percentile and above.
Now with the reduction in cut off from 50 percentile, even a candidate who secured zero percentile is eligible to go through the counselling procedure.
Political reactions after the decision
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on X slammed the NEET PG 2023 zero percentile cut off decision saying that the Union BJP Government has accepted that the benefit of NEET is zero. In the past, the DMK President had vowed to scrap NEET.
His son and TN Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin on X said,” The DMK has always said that NEET was imposed by the union government only to benefit the private coaching centres and private medical colleges. Today, we have been proven right.”
While the uproar continues regarding the decision, Governor of Telangana & Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry on X said that percentile system calculates how many have performed less than an individual and zero percentile doesn’t mean zero marks.
According to a PTI report, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said that the Centre’s move to drastically reduce the cut-off percentile to zero in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) in medical and dental courses will ensure that there are takers for courses across all categories.
“Last year, about 1.80 lakh PG medical and dental seats remained vacant across the country. Making zero the cut-off percentage will enable candidates to fill up these vacancies,” said TN BJP leader K Annamalai.
Doctors’ reaction to the zero percentile cut off decision
With Round 3 Counselling for NEET PG 2023 going on, a lot more students will now be eligible to put in their choices for the seats available.
“ At a time when candidates were waiting for the Round 3 Counselling dates in the hope of getting an upgrade, such a decision during the ongoing admission process has come as a shocker to us. PG doctors as a part of their training are involved in patient care and them not clearing the minimum cut off for NEET PG could be dangerous,” says Dr Kunal N from Hyderabad.
“ The decision to reduce the cut off to zero percentile has made the exam a joke. Instead of filling up the seats, the government should rather focus on what the actual causes are like the fee hike in private medical colleges, ensuring proper stipend to all, etc.,” says Dr Vidya Reddy from Hyderabad, who is preparing to attempt NEET PG next year.
According to an ANI report, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) recently met with the Health Ministry officials and submitted their request regarding the reduction in the NEET PG 2023 cut off percentile.
After the approval of the issue the FORDA posted on X and said, “As promised, the good news is here! We welcome the decision of the Ministry of Health to make everyone eligible for the remaining rounds of counselling for NEETPG2023.”
“Zero percentile cut-off may erase the differences in the hard work amongst aspirants which may raise questions about why poor candidates are allowed to pursue the tough PG curriculum. This move may hence cause a gradual yet significant paradigm shift in the hard work and the results associated with NEET-PG exams and it might not augur well for academicians, hospitals and patients,” says Preethi Frederick, Head of Product Development and Marketing, Manipal MedAce .
Medical Counselling Committee has released the revised schedule for NEET PG 2023 Counselling Round 3 and Stray Vacancy Round. The last date to apply for the counselling round is till September 25, 2023. Candidates who wish to apply for Round 3 counselling can do it through the official site of MCC.
As per the schedule, the choice filling and locking facility can be done till September 25, 2023. The seat allotment process will be done from September 26 to September 27 and the seat allotment result will be published on September 28, 2023.
