Centre cuts NEET-SS qualifying percentile to 30% in Supreme Court

The Union government has agreed to lower the qualifying percentile for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Super Speciality (NEET-SS) from the existing 50th percentile to the 30th percentile, a decision conveyed to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

In a note placed before a Bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha, the government said the matter had been reconsidered in consultation with stakeholders. The reduction, it said, was intended to ensure that available super speciality seats do not remain vacant and that the country's training capacity is put to optimal use. The lower threshold will apply to a proposed special stray vacancy round.

Candidates who secure the 30th percentile or above in NEET-SS will therefore be eligible to take part in that round. The government said 1,857 super speciality seats were lying vacant after the second round of counselling concluded, while the percentile reduction would widen the eligible candidate pool to roughly 6,000.

The Centre also told the court that 40 vacant in-service seats belonging to Tamil Nadu would be reverted to the State government. The move, it said, was made in compliance with Supreme Court orders and would be limited to allowing the State to conduct and complete its own stray vacancy round within one week.

At an earlier hearing, both the State and the petitioner had pressed for the return of the 40 seats, describing them as precious and noting that they would allow more in-service government doctors serving in rural areas to obtain specialised medical training.

The State was represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, Tamil Nadu Additional Advocate General Prashanto Chandra Sen and advocate Rupali Samuel. The petitioner, the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association, was represented by senior advocate P. Wilson, who had sought a zero cut-off percentile reduction as was done in the past two years. The Union government was represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.

The court granted Tamil Nadu leeway to permit NEET-SS candidates to seek upgradation during the one-week special stray vacancy round. This was despite the Centre arguing in its note that the round should be held without any provision for upgrading candidates who already hold a seat.

The government submitted that upgradation had been available in the first two rounds of counselling, with second-round participants able to seek an upgrade from their first-round allotment. It expressed concern that allowing further upgradation after the academic session had commenced and considerable time had elapsed could lead candidates to shift between super speciality seats months into the course. Seats vacated in that process could become vacant again, requiring another counselling round and potentially leaving them unfilled, the note said.

The Centre further proposed that vacant seats be offered only to candidates who had not joined a seat in earlier rounds and who become eligible following the percentile reduction.

The petitioner-association had challenged the premature diversion of 152 vacant super speciality seats earmarked for in-service government doctors in Tamil Nadu to the All-India Quota, and had also sought protection of the State's in-service reservation policy. The Bench listed the case after three weeks, following the completion of the counselling process by Tamil Nadu.