The update clarifies that candidates from SC, ST, and OBC communities will now be eligible to participate in NEET PG 2025 counselling even if they score at the zero percentile level. This decision comes in the backdrop of concerns over seat vacancies and the need to ensure wider participation in postgraduate medical admissions.

The report also highlights the impact of negative marking in the NEET PG examination. For instance, even if a candidate scores 40 marks out of a total of 800 marks due to negative marking, they will still be considered eligible for counselling under the revised cut-off criteria. This marks a major shift from earlier norms where such scores would have rendered candidates ineligible.

Previously, the qualifying cut-off for NEET PG was fixed at 50 percentile, which was later reduced to 7 percentile, corresponding to around 103 marks. The current decision to further lower the cut-off to 0 percentile has been described as an unprecedented step aimed at maximizing seat utilization and providing opportunities to a larger number of medical graduates.

According to the report, this move is expected to significantly benefit students who narrowly missed previous cut-offs, particularly those from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The decision is being viewed as a student-friendly measure that could help fill vacant postgraduate medical seats across the country.

Experts believe that this relaxation in eligibility criteria will play a crucial role in strengthening the healthcare system by ensuring that more PG medical seats are filled, thereby increasing the availability of specialist doctors in the coming years.