FORDA objects NBEMS decision of lowering NEET-PG scores, demands withdrawal of decisions

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) strongly condemns the National Board of Examinations’ arbitrary reduction of NEET-PG 2025 qualifying cut-off scores. Underlining that it is the question of the credibility of postgraduate medical education, the doctors’ body said the abrupt and non-transparent decision undermines meritocracy, demoralises hardworking aspirants, and lowers the credibility of postgraduate medical education.

With over 18,000 postgraduate medical seats across the country remaining vacant, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has revised the qualifying percentiles for NEET-PG 2025 admissions, reducing it to zero percentile from 40 percentile for reserved categories. According to the notice published by NBEMS on Tuesday, the NEET PG cutoff for the general category has been reduced to seven percentile from 50. The decision follows the completion of round two counselling.

NEET-PG is a merit-based gateway to specialist training. Diluting standards without data, justification, or stakeholder consultation risks compromising the quality of future healthcare and erodes public trust. FORDA is deeply concerned that this move disproportionately favours private institutions by allowing seat filling with lower-scoring candidates, prioritising profit over academic excellence.

The FORDA has demanded the immediate reversal of the reduced cut-off and restoration of original qualifying criteria. It has also asked to constitute a high-level committee including NMC, NBE, and resident doctor representatives to review cut-off policies transparently and also has asked for mandatory stakeholder consultation before future policy changes.