The Indian government, through the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) and the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), has significantly lowered the qualifying cut-off for NEET-PG 2025 admissions. For Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates, the percentile has been reduced to zero, which, due to negative marking, translates to a cut-off score of -40 out of 800. This controversial decision, notified around January 13-14, 2026, also saw the qualifying percentile for general and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates slashed from the 50th to the 7th percentile, equivalent to 103 marks. For General Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD), the cut-off was reduced from the 45th to the 5th percentile (approximately 90 marks). The primary motivation behind this drastic reduction is to address the persistent problem of a large number of vacant postgraduate medical seats across the country, estimated to be over 9,000. Officials stated that allowing such a significant portion of training capacity to go to waste would weaken teaching hospitals and strain healthcare delivery, particularly in government institutions that heavily rely on resident doctors. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had also advocated for a rational revision of cut-offs to prevent these large-scale vacancies. While the move aims to ensure that available MD and MS seats are filled, it has sparked considerable criticism from sections of the medical fraternity. Concerns have been raised about a potential decline in academic standards in medical education if candidates with extremely low or even negative scores are admitted. It is noteworthy that similar cut-off reductions have occurred in previous years, including a reduction to zero percentile across all categories for NEET PG 2023. The announcement implies that all reserved category candidates who appeared for NEET-PG 2025 are now eligible for admission to seats remaining vacant after the initial two rounds of counselling.