Jaipur: Candidates express anguish over postponement of NEET-PG by Union govt

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Following the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's announcement to postpone the National Eligibility and Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, students have expressed their disappointment and criticised the Centre's decision.

The exam, originally set for June 23rd, will be rescheduled for a new date, which will be announced soon. The ministry noted that the decision was made in response to recent complaints about the integrity of specific competitive examinations, reported ANI.

"Considering the recent allegations about the integrity of certain competitive exams, the Ministry of Health has decided to thoroughly assess the robustness of the NEET-PG Entrance Examination processes, conducted by the National Board of Examination for medical students," the ministry's statement read.

A candidate who travelled to Jaipur for the exam told ANI, "The NEET-UG exam's paper got leaked, NEET-PG was postponed 12 hours before, and the NEET-SSC exam date has not been announced yet. This shows how much the government is concerned about the health sector. The Union Health Minister and Union Education Minister must apologise for what they have done. Students and doctors have travelled a long way for the exam and come here; they have incurred a lot of expenses. On average, Rs 10,000 was the expenditure. The government must reimburse these expenditures."

Jyoth Chouhan, another candidate, told ANI that the Centre informing them at the last moment about the postponement of NEET-PG exam caused great inconvenience.

"NTA (National Testing Agency) informed at the last moment, 10 hours before that the exam has been postponed. If they had to reschedule, they should have announced that at least a few days ago. They didn't distribute exam centres properly, candidates got very faraway places at exam centres. Students from Vadodara had exam centres in Nashik and Madhya Pradesh. And then when they reached there, they were informed that the exam had been postponed. All are having great difficulties," he said.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) was completely equipped to administer the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) Post-Graduate (PG) 2024, the report stated. Speaking exclusively to ANI, Dr Rakesh Sharma, OSD to President and Member, Governing Body, NBEMS, stated, "All eyes of the nation are on NBEMS for the conduct of NEET PG 2024 and we will not let down the hope of the nation. We will conduct the test through a computer-based test (CBT) mode throughout the country."

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which administered the NEET-UG exams, is receiving criticism for alleged anomalies. This has resulted in various protests across the country, with protestors and political groups calling for the NTA's disbandment, the ANI report stated.

The Ministry of Education has formed a high-level committee of specialists to recommend changes to the test procedure, data security protocols, and the operation of the NTA.