E-Paper
Minus 40 out of 800: Plea challenges decision to reduce NEET PG cut-off marks
The plea challenges the decision on the grounds that a substantial reduction in the cut-off marks for NEET-PG 2025 will undermine the sanctity of a merit-based selection process
PRAYAGRAJ A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Allahabad high court challenging the decision of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to allow counselling of SC/ST/OBC students who scored -40 (minus 40) out of 800 marks in NEET-PG 2025 exams. The PIL is likely to be taken up by the court soon.
The petitioner, Abhinav Gaur, pleaded that the decision was unconstitutional being violative of Article 16 of the Constitution of India, which provides equal opportunity in the matter of public employment. The plea challenges the decision on the grounds that a substantial reduction in the cut-off marks for NEET-PG 2025 will undermine the sanctity of a merit-based selection process.
However, the PIL added, after more than 18,000 seats remained vacant following the second round of counselling, the Board drastically reduced the qualifying criteria, setting the score at -40/800 for the SC/ST/OBC category.
The petition also pointed out that in the general (EWS) category, the cut-off has been reduced from 276 to 103, whereas in the general-PwBD category, it has been reduced from 255 to 90.
However, in the SC/ST/OBC category, the same was reduced from 235 to -40 marks, which, the PIL plea argues, will adversely impact public health and patient safety, which are matters of paramount public concern and involve a high level of academic precision, as pleaded by the petitioner.
It was further pleaded that such a quality of doctors who do not have the minimum threshold to qualify for the examination would affect the right to health and life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
