A candidate with minus 12 (-12) marks out of 800 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG) granted a seat to pursue an MD in Physiology. This admission, confirmed in the third round of counselling, highlights the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s controversial policy change that lowered the qualifying criteria to levels many in the medical community called a “surrender of standards.”
NEET-PG Cutoffs drops to -12
According to counselling data obtained by South First, the candidate ranked 2,30,087 has gained admission to A.C.S. Medical College, Chennai, for an MD in Physiology through a self-financed merit seat under the Open Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Two other candidates with negative scores have also secured postgraduate medical seats.
One candidate with minus 8 marks got a seat for an MD in Biochemistry at the Government Medical College, Haldwani, a government institution, through the All India quota’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. Another candidate with minus five marks received a MD seat in Biochemistry at Symbiosis Medical College for Women, Pune.
Reduce qualifying percentiles
These admissions followed a notice from the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on January 13, 2026, which significantly lowered minimum qualifying percentiles for the third round of counselling. For SC/ST/OBC candidates, including those with certain disabilities, the cut-off dropped from the 40th percentile (235 marks) to the zeroth percentile (minus 40 marks).
The reduction has impacted all categories. General and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates saw their thresholds fall from the 50th percentile (276 marks) to the 7th percentile (103 marks). General category individuals with disabilities experienced a decrease from the 45th percentile (255 marks) to the 5th percentile (90 marks).
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