After the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 endured its fair (and as some might argue — valid) share of controversy, it looks as if the same fate has befallen its postgraduate counterpart, conducted by the National Board of Examinations for Medical Sciences (NBEMS).
Initially scheduled to be held on June 23, the NBEMS announced on the night of June 22 — barely 12 hours ahead — that the exam would be postponed following impersonation threats. After a series of fake notices, the NBEMS finally announced on July 5 that NEET PG would be held on August 11, in two shifts.
However, fresh trouble arose for the exam, when candidates who received their admit cards were not allotted the test cities they chose — rather, many aspirants complained that they were allotted cities 1,000 kilometres away from their hometowns.
Despite medical associations and politicians writing to JP Nadda, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India to review these allocations, the NBEMS maintained that requests to change the test cities would not be entertained.
The latest cause of worry for aspirants is an apparent leak of a “confidential notice” issued by the NBEMS, signed by Dr Abhijeet Sen, President of the board. This notice, which also bears the stamp of the District Magistrate’s office of Chennai, contains details about the date & shift timings of the exam, exam centres, and names of the centres.
Due to these developments, there is a palpable worry among aspirants, that there could be discrepancies in NEET PG.
“Does the NBEMS know what it is doing?” question aspirants
Many aspirants, who are already dissatisfied with the centre allocations, question how the NBEMS could let a confidential document leak into the public forum.
“Be it centre allocations, or this leak, it is clear that the NBEMS is confused about how to conduct NEET PG this year,” says Dr Sadiq Hussain, an aspirant from Rajasthan.
He adds that this notice started gaining traction in Telegram groups for NEET PG aspirants last night, August 2, way before the NBEMS released an official communication for aspirants.
“Even after this notice started making rounds on social media, the notice has not been acknowledged by NBEMS or the Ministry of Health,” Dr Sadiq says.
“If the NBEMS could not prevent a confidential document from leaking, it calls the integrity of NEET PG to question,” says Dr Arun Kumar, National General Secretary of the United Doctors’ Front Association (UDFA).
He adds that this leak has caused a lot of chaos and worry among students, and says, “The NBEMS is neither issuing a clarification on this notice nor is it trying to give students any assurances that they don’t need to worry.”
He also asks why the NBEMS is not taking active steps to maintain the integrity of the exam when it was already postponed once due to speculations of loss of integrity.
Dr Sadiq speculates that the NBEMS is staying silent because any statement from it could result in a huge backlash from the aspirants.
He adds, “Most of us have been preparing for over a year for NEET PG, and are already under a lot of stress. This time, our stress is being compounded by factors out of our control. We can only study, but there are a lot of other factors that contribute to our performance in the exam.”
According to Dr Abhilash, aspirants are also worried as the NBEMS announced that the NEET PG would be postponed barely 12 hours ahead of the exam the previous time, and think this so-called leak of a confidential notice is an indication of a possibility of more discrepancies.
However, he personally thinks that the exam would go on as per schedule. “The NBEMS or the government cannot afford to postpone the exam anymore,” he adds.
“Now the NBEMS must release the full list of centres officially, and as soon as possible,” he says.
"We demand that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare or the NBEMS acknowledge the notice, and issue a statement soon. This is the only way to rein in the chaos caused so far, and ensure that they are committed to maintaining the integrity of the exam," says Dr Arun Kumar.
