The Supreme Court was informed by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) on Friday, February 24, that over two lakh candidates have registered for the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Post Graduate (PG) 2023, and no alternative dates for the exam will be available if it is postponed. Consequently, students preparing for the exam are anxious about the ongoing discussions and protests regarding the postponement, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
The discussion of postponing the exam has been gaining traction ever since the exam dates were announced in January. Initially, students protested the exam dates, demanding that the internship dates be extended beyond March 31, 2023, as many students would be ineligible for the exam. Based on the demand, the Union Health Ministry revised the internship dates to August 11, 2023. The NBE order said, “Initially, when the cut-off date of the exam was March 31, more than 2 lakh students had already registered without any objection. Surprisingly, after the extension, only 5,000 additional applications were received.” Hence, the board officials concluded that deferring the exam will not be ideal as the two lakh students will suffer as they have been preparing for the exam, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court is hearing a case regarding the issue. Students complained about the lack of proper clarification regarding the exam dates and the issue has been trending on social media. Students are worried about how well they can prepare for the exam, with a post-intern PG student saying that the counselling process will start only in August, once the internships are over. Many interns who have finished early will have to wait for five months for the counselling process, and they will be unable to work as no hospital would hire them for such a short time, she added, stated The New Indian Express report.
