NEET PG: Zero-percentile doctors are a competency crisis, not a statistical glitch

NO! NEET PG cannot be reduced to past qualification. If someone cleared UG but cannot even secure 36% in PG after six years of training, the issue is competency, not vacancies. Read this because when merit filters weaken in medical education, the risk ultimately moves from exam halls to hospital wards.

Yesterday, the government attempted to pull the wool over the eyes of the nation. In a defence that can only be described as academic gaslighting, officials suggested that since every NEET PG aspirant has already "qualified" NEET UG and completed an MBBS, their performance in the postgraduate entrance is secondary.

They argued that low, or even negative, scores do not reflect a lack of competency.

As an editor who has tracked medical education for over two decades, I say this: This isn't just a policy shift; it is a surrender of medical excellence.

To suggest that a student who cannot score a single positive mark in a specialised entrance exam after five and a half years of medical training is "competent" is not just logically flawed, it is dangerous for the future of Indian healthcare.

This is a competency crisis, plain and simple.

The government’s primary defense is that these students are already doctors. But let’s look at the real-world trajectory of merit.