The decision of the Medical Council Committee (MCC) to reduce the qualifying percentile for postgraduate medical entrance exam NEET PG has invited concerns from various health professionals, students and teachers. The lowering down of the cut-off to as low as 'Zero' percentile is rare move and may lead to serious implications in the country's medical sector, claim experts.
Talking about the reduced cut-off, Anuj Goyal, co-founder, Getmyuniversity, says, "The lowering of NEET PG cut-off to this level has instigated a fight between merit and means, where means has taken over the merit criteria for admission. The move will increase corruption in private medical colleges as the seats will now be distributed based on the paying capacity of the students and not the marks secured by them."
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Move is economic driven
MCC's decision is aimed at filling the PG seats at private medical colleges which remain vacant every year after the release of the first cut-off, explains Mr Anuj. "The decision is meant to reduce the loss incurred because of the empty seats. However, filling the seats with undeserving students with marks as low as -40 is not a viable option. The authorities must realise the consequences that the country may have to pay by allowing the poor performing and least scorers of the entrance exam." Medicine is a very sensitive and crucial profession and students with high calibre and intelligence should only be allowed to perform critical surgeries on people. The addition of undeserving students in the medical sector may prove dangerous for the people, he adds.
Low scorers will mostly occupy the non-clinical seats
"The move is taken to fill the non-clinical seats for postgraduate courses as there are not many takers for the same. Most medical aspirants pursue specialisation in clinical subjects which allows them to practice Medicine. As a result many of the non-clinical seats in the private medical colleges are left unoccupied. Reducing the cut-off may encourage students to take non-clinical seats. Students specialised in non-clinical subjects are mostly involved in teaching and other jobs that are not directly related to performing surgery," says Dr Sanjay Teotia, Senior consultant, Balrampur Hospital Lucknow UP.
Increase in corruption
Zero cut-off could also give private colleges extensive power to charge hefty amounts from medical aspirants for the PG seats as they will have increased applicants now, says Dr RishiRaj Sinha, National Executive Member to FAIMA and Ex secretary RDA AIIMS Bhopal. "The new cutoff will allow any student with rich background to pay an exorbitant amount and buy the seat. MBBS students who would have been finding it difficult to qualify the entrance exam and get a seat for PG course will now be free to take admission in any private college by paying," he says.
The government's claim that the reduction to Zero percentile is a one-time exception does not stand rational, says Anuj Goyal. "This is not the first time when the seats for the PG courses in medical colleges are untaken. The cut-off for the course had been reduced previously too, but not at this level. Instead of lowering the cut-off every time, the government must think of addressing the core issue. The seats in most private universities and deemed universities remain vacant due to the high fee structure. The average fee in most of these colleges is around 70 lakhs- 1 crore per year. Meritorious student from humble background are not able to take admission to these seats due to the hefty fees. The government should try to regulate the fees of these seats rather than opening it to all. These seats will now be bought by students from rich family who would have scored as low as 10 or 20 percentile."
Gross injustice for Foreign Medical Graduates
"The decision to offer admission to all PG students in the medical colleges is a gross injustice for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) who are denied admission in India and fail to qualify the licensing exam due to its extremely difficult qualifying procedure," highlights Goyal. The new move will result in admission of any student to the course which is not merit driven but will depend on money.