The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) on Wednesday announced the reduction of qualifying percentile for counselling in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Post Graduate 2023 to be ‘Zero’, triggering debates.
According to a report by LiveHindustan, it has been noted that thirteen students with negative marking will also be eligible for counselling in the NEET PG 2023.
The report noted that after the Centre’s decision, thirteen candidates who scored in negative, and fourteen candidates who scored zero percentile have become eligible for NEET PG 2023 counselling. Scoring minus 40 marks out of 800 also makes the examinee of NEET PG 2023 eligible for counselling.
According to the announcement, candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2023 exam will now be eligible to participate in the counselling process.
“It is for the information to candidates that the qualifying percentile for PG Courses (Medical/ Dental) for NEET PG counselling 2023 has been reduced to ‘zero’ across all categories by MoHFW,” said a notice issued by Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), Directorate of Health Services, Government of India.
A fresh registration and choice filling for round-3 of PG counselling will be reopened for the candidates who have become eligible after the reduction of percentile.
These candidates can register and participate in round-3 of counselling. The candidates who are already registered need not register again. However, they will be allowed to edit their choices, the notice said.
A fresh schedule for round-3 onwards for PG counselling will be put up on the MCC website soon, it said.
Recently, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) made an appeal to the Union Health Ministry to consider lowering the cut-off score for the NEET-PG 2023 exam.
“Over the past years, we have witnessed a persistent challenge in the form of vacant seats in medical institutions across the nation, even after multiple rounds of counselling for NEET-PG. This is a matter of great concern not only for the healthcare system but also for aspiring medical professionals who are eager to contribute to our nation’s healthcare infrastructure,” FORDA said in its letter.
In light of this issue, “we humbly request your kind attention to consider the possibility of decreasing the cut-off score for the NEET-PG 2023 examination”, it said.
By lowering the cut-off, FORDA said, it can ensure that a “larger number of eligible candidates are given the opportunity to fill these vacant seats”.
Recently, the Indian Medical Association had written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya demanding a reduction in the NEET-PG 2023 cut-off percentile by up to 30 per cent so that most of the seats can be filled in both clinical and non-clinical branches.
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Updated: 21 Sep 2023, 04:05 PM IST
