With only 11 days left until the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Masters of Dental Surgery (NEET-MDS) 2024 exam, which is scheduled to be conducted on March 18, 2024, the aspiring dental surgeons in India still lack clarity on the future of the examination.
To recall, the NEET MDS aspirants had approached the Supreme Court of India claiming that more than 8,000 students are being rendered ineligible for the examination due to ‘faulty ineligibility criteria’. The students demanded a postponement of the entrance examination to July 2024, in parity with the NEET-PG 2024 exam, as well as a revision of the internship cut-off dates for eligibility.
On February 21, the Supreme Court disposed of the petition, directing the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to “take a call” on the matter within a week.
Now, with the exam date fast approaching, the NEET MDS aspirants across the country are left with uncertainty about their futures.
Confusion looms
Dr Neha Talreja, an aspiring dental surgeon from Madhya Pradesh, is one of the many students in India who have been left ineligible to appear for the upcoming examination.
“We are exhausted, physically and mentally. There is still no definitive answer from the ministry even after over two weeks of the Supreme Court’s notice. Due to COVID-19, the internship completion dates of 2018 batch students were delayed inconsistently across India, including MBBS and BDS students. For MBBS students, the NMC (National Medical Commission) did surveys and collected data to set up fair eligibility criteria. But so far, DCI (Dental Council of India) has not even bothered to reach out to the students and hear our concerns,” Dr Neha told EdexLive.
In their petition submitted to the Supreme Court as well as the Health Ministry, the BDS graduates highlighted that about 40 per cent of the students who have finished their BDS course and are now doing their internship, will not finish their internship by March 31, 2024 and hence, will be barred from appearing for the exam.
“If this happens, it means 365 days of our career wasted, doing nothing. We have sent over 1,000 physical representations to the authorities. So many medical associations have come in our support but yet, there is no response,” she added further.
Inconsistent data submitted by DCI?
While speaking to EdexLive, the students claimed that the Dental Council of India (DCI) submitted data regarding the number of students completing their dental internships with a significant inconsistency in numbers when compared to the figures available on their official website.
“The data provided indicates a student count of 12,814, whereas the DCI website lists a total of 22,164 students admitted in the 2018 session. This substantial difference of 9,350 students raises concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the DCI's submission to the ministry, casting doubt on its credibility and raising questions about its veracity,” the students said.
This was allegedly revealed during a discussion on March 4 when student representatives along with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) met officials from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare regarding the matter. The officials handed over data to the association with the aforementioned numbers.
Dr Nimisha Parasher, another NEET MDS aspirant, said, “The Health Ministry nor the DCI, no one is taking any responsibility for our concerns. We are being told that the inconsistency is because of students who dropped out of their BDS course but how can over 9,000 students from one batch drop out?”
“This year, they have decreased the number of exam centres. States like Haryana have only one exam centre. In Rajasthan, which is my state, even the capital city Jaipur has no exam centre. Students from Manipur are being forced to travel for 900-1000 km to their exam centres in New Delhi. Despite this, the ministry is not even allowing us a 15-day notice period before the exam,” she added.
