Chennai, January 17, 2026:Medical professionals in Tamil Nadu have stepped up their criticism of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) after the qualifying cut-off for NEET PG 2025 was slashed to 0 percentile ahead of the third round of postgraduate counselling, a move they warn undermines the core purpose of the national medical entrance exam.
The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association said the decision to allow candidates — including those from SC/ST/OBC categories who scored as low as –40 marks due to the exam’s negative marking system — to be eligible for admissions “defeats the purpose of NEET” and threatens meritocracy and patient safety. Association president Dr. K Senthil emphasized that maintaining academic standards is vital, even if some seats remain vacant, particularly because many meritorious candidates avoid private medical colleges due to steep fees.
The controversy has ignited a broader debate across India’s medical community. Several national medical bodies, including the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA)and the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Associations (FORDA), have labelled the cut-off reduction “unprecedented” and “illogical”, urging authorities to reconsider. Critics argue that lowering entry thresholds could weaken postgraduate training quality and impact future specialists’ competence and healthcare delivery.
Officials from NBEMS and the Health Ministry, however, defended the cut-off revision as a necessary step to fill thousands of vacant PG seats remaining after earlier counselling rounds, stressing that merit-based counseling and admission ranks — not solely qualifying scores — will govern final seat allocation.
Amid rising voices of dissent, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the zero percentile cut-off, asserting that such drastic measures defeat the NEET exam’s founding goal of ensuring transparent, merit-based medical education across categories. Petitioners have warned that this approach could adversely affect academically strong candidates and raise ethical and patient-safety concerns in future clinical practice.
As the policy debate continues, students, educators, and medical professionals are closely watching for institutional clarifications and possible judicial review, making this one of the most contentious education policy issues in India’s medical ecosystem this year.
NEET PG 2025 cut-off controversy has triggered nationwide debate, with Tamil Nadu doctors criticising the NBEMS decision to lower qualifying cut-off to zero percentile. The discussion touches on meritocracy in medical education, postgraduate medical admissions, vacant seats in MD MS DNB courses, negative marking issues, and healthcare quality standards. Stakeholders from FAIMA and FORDA are calling for policy reassessment, while a PIL in the Supreme Court challenges the cut-off change as undermining NEET’s original purpose. Balanced reporting includes official defence of the revised rules and reactions from aspirants and medical bodies alike.