NEET: A massive increase in MBBS seats… Will the solution lie in lowering the NEET PG qualifying cut-off?
NEET: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) recently revised the qualifying cut-off for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) PG 2025. Under this change, the new qualifying cut-off for NEET PG has been lowered, resulting in a cut-off of zero (0) for SC, ST, and OBC candidates and the 7th percentile for general category candidates. Following this change, candidates who score even minus 40 in NEET PG 2025 will be eligible for admission to postgraduate medical seats. However, this decision has sparked widespread protests across the country.
It is believed that this decision was taken to fill the vacant seats in postgraduate medical courses like MD-MS. Experts believe that the declining educational standards of MBBS students due to a shortage of faculty are the reason why most students are unable to qualify for NEET PG. It is also believed that this step will address the future shortage of faculty in medical colleges. Let's understand this issue in detail.
What are the rules for medical college faculty?
A medical college is granted recognition based on the number of faculty members it has.
There should be expert faculty in more than 20 departments.
The rules include having one professor, two associate professors, and more than three assistant professors.
Doctors who complete their postgraduate studies (MS-MD, DNB) after MBBS can be recruited as medical faculty after a few years of experience.
Medical colleges have doubled in a decade, and MBBS seats have more than doubled.
The medical education infrastructure in the country is expanding rapidly. For example, the number of medical colleges has doubled in a decade, and the number of MBBS seats has also more than doubled. In 2013, there were 387 medical colleges in the country, while in 2025, 731 medical colleges were operating in the country.
Regarding MBBS seats, in 2014, there were a total of 54,352 MBBS seats in the country. In 2025, counseling was conducted for admissions to 1,28,875 MBBS seats. This represents more than a doubling of MBBS seats in a decade.
A look at the faculty crisis in medical colleges:
Safdarjung Medical College has 398 sanctioned faculty positions. In 2025, 70 of these positions were vacant.
AIIMS had more than 2500 faculty vacancies in 2025, the highest number in four years.
At Delhi's Bhimrao Ambedkar Medical College, more than 50 percent of medical faculty positions were vacant in 2025.
Most newly opened medical colleges across the country have vacant faculty positions.
Is lowering the qualifying cut-off a solution to the faculty crisis?
Is lowering the NEET PG 2025 qualifying cut-off a solution to the medical education faculty shortage in the country? In response to this question, Dr. Rohan Krishnan, Chief Patron of the Federation of All India Medical Associations, says that for now, this decision should be seen as a measure to fill the vacant NEET PG seats. He says that there is indeed a shortage of faculty, and MBBS students are not being taught properly. While lowering the NEET UG qualifying cut-off might allow those admitted to become faculty members in the future, it will take a long time. They would also need 10 years of experience.
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