On 13 January, the NBEMS reduced the general category qualifying percentile from the 50th to the 7th percentile, reserved categories from the 40th percentile to zero, and persons with disabilities in the general category from the 45th to the 5th percentile. In effect, candidates with negative scores became eligible under reserved categories, while a score of 103 out of 800 sufficed for the general category.
The revision made 95,924 additional candidates eligible, expanding the total counselling pool from 1,28,116 to over 2,24,000. Reports that candidates scoring as low as 4 out of 800 had secured MS Orthopaedics seats at government medical colleges drew widespread criticism, prompting the Supreme Court to demand a detailed explanation from the Centre.
In its first affidavit filed 16 February, that the reduction was necessary to prevent large-scale vacancy of postgraduate seats. The Board said the cut-off reduction made an additional 95,913 candidates eligible for the NEET-PG 2025 counselling, increasing the pool from 1,28,116 to 2,24,029.
The Centre’s second affidavit, filed through the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), took a broader legal position—calling the cut-off decision outside judicial purview. It argued that NEET-PG is a ranking examination to allocate limited seats, not a test of minimum medical competence, which is already established through the MBBS qualification.
