Will NEET-UG BDS course cut-off marks be lowered? Centre says no; SC seeks reason

A PIL for conducting a fresh mop-up round counselling based on the reduced cut-off marks to fill up the vacant seats in the colleges had been filed by BDS aspirants
File photo of Supreme Court of India, New Delhi | Pic: PTI
File photo of Supreme Court of India, New Delhi | Pic: PTI

The Supreme Court has sought a reply from the Centre regarding a plea filed by BDS students to lower the cut-off marks of the NEET-BDS courses for the year 2021-22. The Centre had earlier refused to lower the cut-off marks but students had challenged its decision through the said plea. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Centre seeking a reply, on Wednesday, May 11.

A PIL (Public Interest Litigation) for conducting a fresh mop-up round counselling based on the reduced cut-off marks as recommended by the Dental Council to fill up the vacant seats in the colleges for the academic session of 2021-22 had been filed by candidates who had appeared in the NEET-UG exam. The notice was issued to the Centre during the hearing of this PIL, reported PTI.

Senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for the BDS aspirants, had submitted that for BDS courses, out of the 27,698 seats, around 9,000 were still lying vacant till date. However, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, has countered the claim and submitted a note stating that the figures given in the chart were not accurate and a subsequent affidavit with the exact number would be filed soon.

The plea was being heard by a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Sanjiv Khanna and Surya Kant. It has asked the Centre's reply "on specific points like the total number of eligible candidates after deducting the admission granted for MBBS courses and BDS courses, the total number of vacant seats in All India Quota and State Quota and the total number of seats available in government colleges and private and deemed colleges," a PTI report stated.

The court sought to know the reasons from the Centre for not allowing it to lower the percentile in the wake of available seats in government and private/deemed colleges. The Supreme Court Bench has also taken note of the fact that the Dental Council of India has recommended the Centre to reduce the cut-off percentile.

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