A significant portion of these students, who scored below a hundred marks, secured their positions primarily in non-clinical subjects through the management quota.
An applicant who obtained 15 marks, representing less than two percent in the NEET-PG exam, was granted admission to an MD Community Medicine course at a college in Karnataka under the NRI quota.(Creative Commons)
With the National Medical Council (NMC) eliminating the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG by reducing it to zero, a remarkable scenario unfolded where a student who secured merely five marks in the examination secured admission to the MD-Forensic Medicine programme in a Delhi medical college, courtesy of the Delhi University Quota.
During the initial NEET-PG counselling session held in July, the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) established a cutoff percentile of 50 for admissions to postgraduate medical programmes such as MD, MS, and DNB.
Under this criterion, the highest score of 582, out of a total possible score of 800, represented the 100th percentile.
Eligibility was extended to candidates scoring 291 or higher in the open category, 257 or higher in the reserved category, and 274 or higher in the persons with disabilities (PWD) category.
Intriguingly, students who scored as low as five marks out of 800, which is less than one percent, secured admission to various medical courses.
In another example, an individual with only 10 marks in NEET-PG gained admission to an MD Biochemistry programme at a private medical college in Tamil Nadu.
Another student, who scored just 11 marks, secured admission under the management quota for an MD Physiology course in a private medical college in Haryana.
Additionally, an applicant who obtained 15 marks, representing less than two percent in the NEET-PG exam, was granted admission to the MD Community Medicine course at a college in Karnataka under the NRI quota.
Notably, a significant portion of these students, who scored below 100 marks, secured their positions primarily in non-clinical subjects through the management quota.
The Medical Counseling Committee conducts counselling on behalf of the NMC and allocates colleges based on various quota categories.
The first set of categories is domicile-based and covers government colleges, private medical colleges, and hospitals.
These include State Quota, All India Quota (AI), Management/Paid Seats Quota (PS), Non-Resident Indian (NR), IP University Quota (IP), Aligarh Muslim University (AM), DNB Quota (AD), Delhi University Quota (DU), Banaras Hindu University (BH), Jain Minority Quota (JM), and Muslim Minority Quota (MM).
The second category of quotas is based on caste and physical disability and comprises Backward Class (OBC-NCL), Backward Class with Disabilities (OBC-NCL) – Person with Disability (BC PwD), General Economically Weaker Section (General-EWS), General Economically Weaker Section with Disabilities (General-EWS) – Person with Disability (EW PwD), General Open Seat (GN), General Open Seat with Disabilities (GN) – Person with Disability (GN PwD), Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Caste with Disabilities (SC) – Person with Disability (SC PwD), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Scheduled Tribe with Disabilities (ST) – Person with Disability (ST PwD).
The admission process for medical colleges can be quite complex, involving various criteria and matrices. Thus, a student may secure admission even with a low score if they meet specific criteria.
For instance, a student could gain admission to a government medical college with only five marks if they qualified under both the Delhi University Quota and the OBC category. If there happened to be an available seat within this particular category at the college, the student could seize the opportunity and secure admission.
The allocation of seats often takes into account a combination of factors, including reservation quotas and individual circumstances, making it possible for students with different backgrounds and qualifications to obtain admission.
Speaking to South First, an NMC official said on condition of anonymity that thousands of seats used to remain vacant during the admission process, but lowering the percentile would help fill all these seats.
“If you are suggesting that this policy might admit students who may not have excelled in their academic studies, I must firmly disagree. These students have invested five and a half years of hard work to earn their MBBS degree. Achieving success in the MBBS exams is no small accomplishment; it entails rigorous study, hands-on practice, internships, and ultimately passing the examination,” the NMC official told South First.
“These students have gained valuable experience during this journey. While they may have scored lower on the entrance exam, there could be numerous reasons behind their performance, and it’s not fair to doubt their innate talent and dedication,” he added.
“Mere NEET-PG cannot be a factor for eligibility as MBBS itself is a required eligibility criterion for postgraduation. Moreover, we need faculty for newly-opened medical colleges and some government medical colleges do not have Anatomy faculty, an issue that is now running into the third year. Now, there will be no seats left vacant, especially for non-clinical PG posts,” Dr Lakshya Mittal of the United Doctors Front Association, told South First.
He added, “A wonderful transparency is being maintained during the entire counselling procedure this academic year. Everything will be online, even the stray vacancy round (for the very first time) this academic year is going to be conducted online by the MCC government portal. There will be no chances for any discrepancies or incidents like seat-selling.”
