A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court of India challenging the lowering of the NEET-PG 2025 eligibility criteria – including the controversial zero percentile and eligibility for candidates scoring as low as –40 marks.
The lowering of NEET 2025 cut-off has already drawn sharp criticism.
The PIL, submitted by a group of doctors and medical activists, contends that reducing the qualifying cut-off to zero percentile undermines the very purpose of a competitive exam that determines admission into postgraduate medical programmes such as MD/MS and DNB. According to the petitioners, allowing candidates with minimal or negative scores to enter postgraduate training threatens the quality of medical education and could have long-term consequences for patient care and public health.
In January 2026, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), acting on directives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, revised the NEET-PG qualifying percentiles for counselling.
For the General/EWS category, the eligibility criterion was reduced from the 50th to the 7th percentile; for General PwBD, to the 5th percentile; and for SC/ST/OBC categories, to a zero percentile — meaning candidates with scores as low as –40 out of 800 could participate in the counselling rounds.
Supporters of the move argue it aims to fill over 18,000 vacant postgraduate medical seats left after earlier rounds of counselling and to address doctor shortages nationwide.
However, professional bodies and critics assert that this sets a “dangerous precedent” by lowering academic standards and diluting meritocracy in medical admissions. The PIL seeks judicial review of the policy, asserting it adversely affects the integrity of medical training and ultimately the quality of healthcare services. The Supreme Court’s next hearing date is awaited.