# Centre reduces NEET-SS cut-off to 30 percentile, tells SC 2026-09-17T20:26:48+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it has agreed to reduce the qualifying percentile for NEET-Super Speciality seats from 50 to 30 to fill 1,857 vacant seats. The government said the decision would make approximately 6,000 additional candidates eligible for the proposed Special Stray Vacancy Round, creating a candidate pool about three times the number of vacancies. The top court had last week asked the Centre to reconsider its decision not to lower the cut-off, expressing concern over seats going unfilled annually. The government filed a two-page note before a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, stating the matter was reconsidered in consultation with stakeholders. It said 1,094 DM/MCh seats and 763 DNB-SS seats are vacant after the second round of NEET-SS counselling. The government told the court that students who have already taken admission would not be allowed to participate in the special stray round, and no upgradation would be permitted. For Tamil Nadu, 40 vacant in-service seats will be reverted to the state government for a one-week stray vacancy round, after which unfilled seats will go to the all-India pool. The Medical Counselling Committee will complete the special round in two weeks. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both sources report the same factual development without discernible slant. The Federal and Times of India both lead with the cut-off reduction and the 1,857 vacant figure, attribute the decision to the court's nudge, and include identical procedural details on Tamil Nadu seats and the no-upgradation rule. The uniform framing suggests straight reporting from the same PTI or court proceeding feed, with no editorial divergence on a policy the court itself pressed for. The next milestone is the conduct of the special stray vacancy round by MCC within two weeks. ## Coverage - thefederal.com (neutral report) Leads with government submission, no framing spin - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Leads with SC nudge, then government response, no slant Tags: Medical Counselling Committee, NEET SS, Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/neet-ss-cut-off-reduced-to-30-percentile-centre-tells-sc/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/neet-ss-cut-off-reduced-to-30-percentile-centre-tells-sc/#story-in-brief