December 2010: The Medical Council of India (MCI) notified in the gazette about one common national-level exam, NEET, for entrance into medical colleges in India. In the gazette notification, the qualifying criteria was initially 50 percent for both NEET (UG and PG).

February 2012: By another gazette notification, 50 percent was amended to 50 percentile.

2013: NEET UG was conducted for the first time in India.

July 18, 2013: In a 2-1 majority decision, a three-judge bench held the NEET order by MCI invalid and decided that MCI was not empowered to conduct NEET, dismissing the gazette notification of December 2010.

April 28, 2016: A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court reviewed the 2013 decision, and the decision was reversed. The bench allowed MCI to conduct NEET. Considering the hardship to students due to short notice, students who could not prepare well or appear in the May 16 exam were given a second opportunity in July 2016 (NEET 2) on certain terms.

Since then, NEET has been conducted every year. Some postgraduate seats remain vacant, mainly in non-clinical/para-clinical branches, and sometimes some seats in clinical branches due to exorbitant fees. Sometimes the government provides relaxation in the qualifying percentile.

Last year, the government refused to reduce the qualifying percentile, citing that the medical profession is unique, where the quality of doctors matters, and the country can't afford to compromise on quality. The Honorable Court agreed with the government's stance.

September 2023: The government takes a U-turn from its earlier stand and sets the qualifying criteria at Zero percentile and zero percentile makes a candidate with (-)40 marks, yes you read it right, minus 40 marks eligible to buy a seat if it still lies vacant, and this game continues till the last seat is occupied. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) takes credit and considers it another feather in the cap.

Some Hard Questions

1. The percentile system is needed to normalize scores in exams that occur in multiple sessions where students attempt different sets of questions with varying difficulty levels, such as the JEE. NEET, on the other hand, happens in a single session, and every student attempts the same questions. Where is the need for the percentile system? Rank can be decided based on the raw score.

2. Whether to reduce or not reduce the qualifying percentile every year could be an academic policy for that year. However, can we really have a policy that grants officials significant arbitrary powers?

3. Experts are asking,  "when the nation has already achieved the WHO-prescribed doctor-patient ratio (as stated by the Minister in Parliament), where is the need to produce postgraduate specialist doctors who score a big zero in a qualifying exam?"