WEBDESK: The credibility of India’s education system has once again come under serious question after shocking revelations showed that hundreds of students with single-digit, zero, or even negative marks in key subjects like physics and chemistry were admitted into MBBS courses in 2017 mostly in private medical colleges.
With no cut-off for individual subjects in the NEET entrance exam, India’s so-called national-level merit-based test, at least 400 students with marks between zero and nine in physics and chemistry secured MBBS seats. Even more alarming, 110 students with zero or negative marks were also admitted. This raises a fundamental question if scoring zero makes no difference to eligibility, what purpose does testing in those subjects serve?
Originally, when NEET was proposed, students were required to score at least 50per cent in each paper to qualify. However, a quiet notification change in 2012 scrapped this requirement, replacing it with a percentile-based system that ignored individual subject performance. This deliberate weakening of standards was done, allegedly, to get NEET accepted amidst resistance from state governments. But the consequences are now laid bare.
A detailed analysis of NEET 2017 admissions revealed that of 1,990 students with NEET scores under 150 out of 720, around 530 had single-digit, zero, or negative marks in physics or chemistry two fundamental subjects for medical studies. Astonishingly, 507 of these were admitted into private medical colleges, paying tuition fees of around ₹17 lakh per year, exposing how India’s education system allows the wealthy to essentially buy medical degrees, regardless of merit.
About half of these students enrolled in deemed universities, institutions notorious for conducting their own MBBS final exams with questionable oversight. Once these students pass their internal exams, they are legally certified to register and practise as doctors, putting the lives of countless patients at risk.
This alarming situation makes a mockery of India’s claim of producing world-class professionals. NEET, introduced to curb the sale of medical seats and ensure merit-based admissions, has now become yet another tool for protecting the interests of the elite while compromising public safety.
Lives at Risk as India’s Medical System Flooded With Unqualified, Rich Doctors
What credibility can India’s medical profession possibly claim when students scoring zero or even negative marks in crucial subjects like physics and chemistry are being granted MBBS admissions?
The very foundation of public healthcare is being jeopardised as unqualified, rich-backed individuals buy their way into medical colleges and go on to practise as doctors. In a country where hospitals are already overcrowded and medical negligence is a growing concern, flooding the system with underqualified, incompetent doctors is a recipe for disaster.
Lives are being put at risk every day as patients unknowingly entrust their health to those who should have never been allowed near a medical degree, let alone a hospital ward. This is not just a collapse of educational standards it’s a direct threat to public safety.
