NEET PG 2025 cut-off scores have been lowered once again as thousands of postgraduate medical seats continue to remain vacant across India. The latest revision allows candidates with scores as low as minus 40 marks in some categories to become eligible for the third round of NEET PG counselling, sparking renewed debate within the medical community.
Why PG Medical Seats Remain Vacant Despite High Demand?
Medical associations and experts have said the persistent vacancies are not due to a lack of aspirants. Instead, they point to long-standing structural issues in postgraduate medical education. According to doctors’ bodies, more than half of the vacant PG seats are in private medical colleges. India currently has over 67,000 PG medical seats, including MD, MS, and diploma courses. Since 2014, more than 20,000 new PG seats have been added to address the shortage of specialist doctors. Despite this expansion, around 18,000 PG seats reportedly remain vacant nationwide, mostly in private institutions and non-clinical or less preferred specialties. High tuition fees are cited as a major barrier. Fees in private colleges for MD and MS courses can range from INR 25 lakh to over INR 1 crore, with even higher costs for DNB and super-specialty programmes. Doctors’ associations argue that such costs are unaffordable for most middle-class medical graduates.
Why NEET PG Cut-Offs Keep Getting Lowered?
Cut-off relaxation has repeatedly been used to address seat vacancies. In 2023, the qualifying percentile was reduced to zero for all categories. In 2024, it was revised to the 5th percentile. For NEET PG 2025, graded cut-offs have been introduced. Before examining the impact, it is important to understand the revised eligibility thresholds.
- General and EWS: reduced from 276 to 103 out of 800
- General PwBD: reduced from 255 to 90 out of 800
- SC, ST, and OBC: reduced from 235 to minus 40 out of 800
Medical experts say repeated reductions reflect deeper policy failures rather than genuine solutions. They argue that lowering cut-offs is being used to avoid the optics of empty seats instead of addressing cost, regulation, and training quality.
Concerns Over Academic Standards and Training Quality
The latest cut-off revision has intensified concerns about academic standards. Allowing candidates with negative scores into counselling has raised questions about the quality of training and assessment at the undergraduate level. Doctors have also flagged issues such as poor infrastructure, inconsistent stipend payments, limited clinical exposure, and postings in underserved districts. These factors, especially in newer private colleges, further discourage candidates from opting for available seats.
What Aspirants Are Saying About NEET PG 2025 Cut Off?
NEET PG aspirants have expressed mixed reactions to the decision. Some candidates who narrowly missed earlier cut-offs feel the revision undermines merit. Others say the real issue is affordability, as qualifying alone does not make costly private seats accessible. Several aspirants believe the policy reflects desperation rather than reform, with seat vacancies driven by lack of trust in training quality and high financial burden.
What Doctors Say Needs to Change?
Doctors’ groups have called for structural reforms instead of repeated cut-off reductions. These include stricter fee regulation in private colleges, expansion of government PG seats in underserved states, uniform bonding policies, and affordable financing options. As NEET PG 2025 counselling progresses under the revised criteria, the debate continues over whether lowering cut-offs addresses India’s specialist shortage or merely delays meaningful reform in medical education.