NEET-PG aspirants say unfair gap between exam date and counselling, demand postponement

Every year, the NEET-PG exam is held in January, but in 2021 the exam was postponed to September due to Covid. Due to various PILs filed in the Supreme Court seeking clarity on the reservation issue and confusion regarding the mop-up round, the counselling procedure was delayed.

Aspirants have raised their concerns over the scheduled NEET-PG dates on social media platforms following the announcement of the exam dates. This year's NEET PG will take place on May 21.

Candidates are in dilemma for preparation because the counselling round is set to end on May 3, and the NEET-PG examination is set to take place on May 21. They are requesting for postponement of the exam.

Many middle-rank aspirants have only one or two weeks to study for the upcoming NEET-PG exam. "Our main concern is why should we suffer due to this incompetent system, they couldn't finish the counselling on time and they are conducting the exam after 7 days (including the state mop up and stray) of completing the counselling," said Dr. Mahul Sarkar.

Students are also concerned about the regular intern batches that are eligible to appear for the exam by default, as their internship is bound to complete before the cut-off set by the authorities. However, due to the Covid crisis, the interns were made into the frontline workforce across the country, and the final year students were asked to serve in the Covid pandemic which has led to delays in their final professional exam and hence their internship.

Interns from five different states stand ineligible to appear for NEET-PG as per the date scheduled by NBE. This includes states such as Kerala, Jammu, Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand, and some parts of Uttar Pradesh. "Almost 5000 interns have been declared ineligible since they worked for our country during Covid, causing their final year examinations to be postponed, resulting in a late internship completion. Furthermore, if the exam is held on the scheduled date, there would be a very small gap between the two academic years, preventing us from acquiring skills," said Dr. Atmoj S.

As these interns have been denied their chance to appear for the exam, they have approached the Central Ministry with representation and are requesting to consider the situation to get a fair chance by giving 6-8 weeks of relaxation between the counselling and the examination date of NEET-PG 2022.

Published on: Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 09:30 AM IST