In a significant development, the Union Government reduced the qualifying percentile for the National Eligibility Cumulative Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2023 to zero across all categories. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), candidates who took the NEET PG 2023 exam are now eligible to participate in the counselling process.

"It is for candidates' information that the qualifying percentile for PG Courses (Medical/ Dental) for NEET PG counseling 2023 has been reduced to 'zero' across all categories by MoHFW," according to a notice issued by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), Directorate of Health Services, Government of India.

A new registration and choice-filling period for round 3 of PG counselling will open for candidates who have become eligible as a result of the percentile reduction. These candidates are qualified to register for and participate in the third round of counselling. Candidates who have previously registered do not need to re-register. They will, however, be able to change their minds, according to the notice.

In light of this issue, "We humbly request your kind attention to consider the possibility of decreasing the cut-off score for the NEET-PG 2023 examination", it said. By lowering the cut-off, FORDA said, it can ensure that a "larger number of eligible candidates are given the opportunity to fill these vacant seats". Recently, the Indian Medical Association had written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya demanding a reduction in the NEET-PG 2023 cut-off percentile by up to 30 per cent so that most of the seats can be filled in both clinical and non-clinical branches.